Group I. No. 202 Price 10 cents 


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#^^ American Sports Publishing Co 

K'tJrfii,,, , ,„. 21 Warren Street, New YorK ir"<..,..>...rii 




A.G.Spalding & Bros. 

MAINTAIN THEIR OWN HOUSES 
FOR DISTRIBUTING THE "^, 

Sf^LDINQ 

^^ COMPLETE LINE OF 

ATHLETIC GOODS 

IN THE FOLLOWING CITIES 




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NEW YORK 

Downl»wn-124-12S Nassau St. 
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BOSTON. MASS. 

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Communications directed to X. 

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THE SPALDING TRADE MARK 
IS REGISTERED IN THE UNITED 
STATES PATENT OFFICE, ALSO 
IN 27 FOREIGN COUNTRIES. 
INFRINGERS ARE WARNED. 





X^> 




THE FOUNDATION OF THE SPALDING BUSINESS 




Spalding's Athletic Library is the leading library 
series of its kind published in the world; in fact, it has 
no imitators, let alone equals. It occupies a field that it 
has created for itself. 

The Library was established in the year 1892, and it 
is conceded by all authorities that Spalding's Athletic 
Library has been an important factor in the advance- 
ment of amaLCur sport in America. 

The millions that read the Library during the year 
will attest to its value. A glance at its index will dis- 
close the remarkable field that it covers. It is im- 
material what the pastime may be, you will find in 
Spalding's Athletic Library a reference to it, either in 
a book devoted exclusively to that particular game or 
in some of the books that cover many sports. 

It has been the aim of the editors to make the books 
Official, and they are recognized as such, all the im- 
portant governing bodies in America granting to the 
publishers of Spalding's Athletic Library the exclusive 
right to publish their official books and ohicial rules. 

The best authorities in each particular line of sport or 
physical culture, the men best qualified to write intelli- 
gently on their respective subjects, are selected to edit 
the books and, as a result, there is not another series in 
the world that is as authoritative as Spalding's Athletic 
Library. 

No matter what new game or form of sport be con- 
ceived or advanced, it is invariably the aim of the 
publishers to have a book on that sport. In that way 
Spalding's Athletic Library is in the field at the begin- 
ning of the sport, follows it year in and year out, and 
there can be no doubt whatever that the present pop- 
ularity of athletic sports can attribute the same to the 
"backing" it has received from Spalding's Athletic 



Library. 



JAMES E. SULLIVAN. 



SPALDING ATHLETIC LIBRARY 

Qk Giving tlie Titles of all Spalding Athletic Library Books now /^ 
^^ ' ^ in Print, grouped f or rea dy reference f — ') 

SPALDING OFFICIAL ANNUALS 

Spalding's Official Base Ball Guide 
Spalding's OfTlcial Base Ball Record 
Spalding's Official Foot Ball Guide 
Spalding's Official Soccer Foot Ball Guide 
Spalding's Official Cricket Guide 
Spalding's Official Lawn Tennis Annual 
Spalding's Official Golf Guide 
Spalding's Official Ice Hockey Guide 
Spalding's Official Basket Ball Guide 
Spalding's Official Bowling Guide 
Spalding's Official Indoor Base Ball Guide 
Spalding's Official Roller Polo Guide 
Spalding's Official Athletic Almanac 



No. 


1 


No. 


lA 


No. 


2 


No. 


2A 


No. 


3 


No. 


4 


No. 


5 


No. 


6 


No. 


7 


No. 


8 


No. 


9 


No. 


lO 


No. 


12 



Group I. 



No. 202 
No. 223 
No. 232 
No. 230 
No. 229 
No. 225 
No. 226 
No. 227 
No. 228 
No. 224 



No. 
231 



Base Ball 

No. 1 Spalding's Official Base Ball 
Guide. 

How to Play Base Ball. 

How to Bat. 

How to Run Bases. 

How to Pitch. 

How to Catch. 

How to Play First Base. 

How to Play Second Base. 

How to Play Third Base. 

How to Play Shortstop. 

How to Play the Outfield. 

How to Organize a Base Ball 
Club. [League. 

How to Organize a Base Ball 

How to Manage a Base Ball 
Club. 

How to Train a Base Ball Team 

How to Captain a Base Ball 

How to Umpire a Game. [Team 

Technical Base Ball Terms. 
No. 219 Ready Reckoner of Base Ball 
Percentages. 

BASE BALL AUXILIARIES 
No. lA Official Base Ball Record. 
No. 309 Minor League Base Ball Guide 
No. 310 Official Book National League 
of Prof. Base Ball Clubs. 

Group II. Foot Ball 

No. 2 Spalding's Official Foot Ball 

Guide. 
No. 300 How to Play Foot Ball. 
No. 2 a Spalding' s Official Soccer Foot 

Ball Guide 
No. 286 How to Play Soccer. 



FOOT BALL AUXILIARIES 

No. 303 Spalding's Official Canadian 

Foot Ball Guide. 

Group III. crichet 

No. 3 Spalding's Official Cricket Guide 
No. 277 Cricket and How to Play It. 

Group IV. Lawn Tennis 

No. 4 Spalding's Official Lawn Ten- 
nis Annual. 

No. 157 How to Play Lawn Tennis. 

No. 279 Strokes and Science of Lawn 
Tennis. 

Group Y. Golf 

No. 5 Spalding's Official Golf Guide 
No. 276 How to Play Golf . 

Group Yl. Hochey 

No. 6 Spalding's Official Ice Hockey 

Guide. 
No. 304 How to Play Ice Hockey. 
No. 154 Field Hockey. ■ 

(Lawn Hockey. 
No. 188 < Parlor Hockey. 

(Garden Hockey. 
No. 180 Ring Hockey. 

HOCKEY AUXILIARY 
No. 256 Official Handbook Ontario 
Hockey Association. 

Group Yll. Basket Ball 

No. 7 Spalding's Official Basket 

Ball Guide. 
No. 193 How to Play Basket Ball. 
No. 260 Basket Ball Guide for Women. 

BASKET BALL AUXILIARY 
No. 299 Official Collegiate Basket Ball 

Handbook. 



Any of the Above Books Mailed Postpaid Upon 
Receipt of 10 Cents 



gx\ SPALDING ATHLETIC imRARY / 7^ 



Croup VIII. Bowling 

No. 8 Spalding's Ojfficial Bowling 
Guide. 

Group IX. Indoor Base Ball 

No. 9 Spalding's Official Indoor 
Base Ball Guide, 

Group X. Polo 

No. 10 Spalding's Official Roller[Polo 

Guide. 
No. 129 Water Polo. 
No. 199 Equestrian Polo. 

Group XI. Miscellaneous Games 

No. 201 Lacrosse. 

No. 297 Official Handbook U. S. Inter- 
collegiate Lacrosse League. 
No. 248 Archery. 
No. 138 Croquet. 
No, 271 Roque. 

(Racquets. 
No. 194 < Squash- Racquets. 

(Court Tennis. 
No. 13 Hand Ball. 
No. 167 Quoits. 
No. 170 Push Ball. 
No. 14 Curling. 
No. 207 Lawn Bowls, 
No. 188 Lawn Games. 
No. 189 Children's Games. 

Group XII. Alhletics 

No. 12 Spalding's Official Athletic 
Almanac. 

No. 27 College Athletics. 

No. 182 All Around Athletics. 

No. 156 Athletes' Guide. 

No. 87 Athletic Primer. 

No. 273 Olympic Games at Athens,1906 

No. 252 How to Sprint. 

No. 255 How to Run 100 Yards. 

No. 174 Distance and Cross Country 
Running, 

No. 259 How to Become a Weight 
Thrower, 

No. 55 Official Sporting Rules. 

No, 246 Athletic Training for School- 
boys. 

ATHLETIC AUXILIARIES 
No. 295 Amateur Athletic Union Offi- 
cial Handbook. 
No. 292 Intercollegiate Official Hand- 
book. 
No. 302 Y. M. C. A. Official Handbook 
No. 301 Public Schools Athletic 
League Official Handbook 
No. 298 Intercollegiate Cross Country 
Association Handbook. 



Group XIII, 



No. 177 
No. 296 

No. 128 
No. 209 
No. 178 
No. 23 
No. 282 



Athielic 
Accomplishments 

How to Swim. 

Speed Swimming, 

How to Row, 

How to Become a Skater. 

How to Train for Bicycling. 

Canoeing, 

Roller Skating Guide. 



Group XIV. 



Manly Sports 



No, 18 Fencing, ( By Breck,) 

No. 162 Boxing, 

No. 165 Fencing. ( By Senac.) 

No. 140 Wrestling. 

No. 236 How to Wrestle. 

No. 102 Ground Tumbling. 

No, 233 Jiu Jitsu. 

No. 166 How to Swing Indian Clubs. 

No, 200 Dumb Bell Exercises, 

No. 143 Indian Clubs and Dumb Bells. 

No. 262 Medicine Ball Exercises. 

No. 29 Pulley Weight Exercises. 

No. 191 How to Punch the Bag. 

No, 289 Tumbling for Amateurs. 

Group XV. Gymnastics 

No. 104 Grading of Gymnastic Exer- 
cises. 

No. 214 Graded Cal isthenics and 
Dumb Bell Drills, 

No. 254 Barnjum Bar Bell Drill. 

No. 158 Indoor and Outdoor Gym- 
nastic Games. 

No, 124 How to Become a Gymnast. 

No, 287 Fancy Dumb Bell and March- 
ing Drills, 



Group XVI. Physical culture 

No. 161 Ten Minutes' E x e r c i s e for 
Busy Men, 

No. 208 Physical Education and Hy- 
giene, 

No. 149 Scientific Physical Training 
and Care of the Body. 

No, 142 Physical Training Simplified. 

No. 185 Hints on Health. 

No. 213 285 Health Answers. 

No. 238 Muscle Building, 

No, 234 School Tactics and Maze Run- 
ning, 

No. 261 Tensing Exercises, 

No. 285 Health by Muscular Gym- 
nastics, 

No. 288 Indigestion Treated by Gym- 
nastics. 

No. 290 Get Well : Keep Well. 



Any of the Above Books Mailed Postpaid Upon 
Receipt of 10 Cents 



^SPALDING ATHLETIC LIBRARY/7^ 




Group I. Base Ball 

No. 1— Spaldina's Official 
Base Ball Guide. 

The leading Base Ball 
annual of the country, and 
the official authority of the 
^j^^m't game. Edited by Henry 
^iTr^ Chad wick, the "Father of 
Base Ball." Contains the 
official playing rules, with 
an explanatory index of the 
rules compiled by Mr„ A. G. 
Spalding; pictures of all the teams in 
the National, American and minor 
leagues; reviews of the season; college 
Base Ball, and a great deal of interest- 
ing information. Price 10 cents. 

No. 202— How to Play Base 
Ball. 

Edited by Tim Murnane. New and 
revised edition. Illustrated with pic- 
tures showing how all the various 
curves and drops are thrown and por- 
traits of leading players. Price 10 cents. 

No. 223— How to Bat. 

There is no better way of becoming 
a proficient batter than by reading this 
book and practising the directions 
given. Numerous illustrations. Price 
10 cents. 

No. 232— How to Run tlie 
Bases. 

This book gives clear and concise 
directions for excelling as a base run- 
ner; tells when to run and when not to 
do so; how and when to slide; team 
work on the bases; in fact, every point 
of the game is thoroughly explained. 
Illustrated with pictures of leading 
players. Price 10 cents. 

No. 2.30— How to Pitch. 

A new, up-to-date book. Its contents 
«re the practical teaching of men who 
have reached the top as pitchers, and 
who know how to impart a knowledge 
of their art. All the big leagues' 
pitchers are shown. Price 10 cents. 

No. 220— How to Catcli. 

Every boy who has hopes of being a 
clever catcher should read how well- 
known players cover their position. 
Pictures of all the noted catchers in 
the big leagues. Price 10 cents. 



\o. 22.";— How to Play Fii'st 
Base. 

No boy who plays the initial sack 
can afford to overlook the points and 
hints contained in this book. Illus- 
trated with full-page pictures of all 
the prominent first basemen. Price 10 
cents. 

No. 220— How to Play Second 
Base. 

The ideas of the best second basemen 
have been incorporated in this book for 
the especial benefit of boys who want 
to knov/ the fine points of play at this 
point of the diamond. Everything a 
player should know is clearly set forth. 
Illustrated with full-page pictures. 
Price 10 cents. 

No. 227— How to Play Third 
Base. 

Third base is, in some respects, the 
most important of the infield. No 
major league team has ever won a 
pennant without a great third base- 
man. Any boy will surely increase his 
chances of success by a careful read- 
ing of this book. Illustrated. Price 10 
cents. 

No. 22S— How to Play Short- 
stop. 

Shortstop is one of the hardest posi- 
tions on the infield to fill, and quick 
thought and quick action are necessary 
for a player who expects to make good 
as a shortstop. Illustrated. Price 10 
cents. 

No. 224— How to Play the 
Outfield. 

There are just as many tricks to be 
learned, before a player can be a com- 
petent fielder, as there are in any other 
position on a nine, and this book ex- 
plains them all. Price 10 cents. 

N«. 231— How to Coach; How 
to Captain a Team; Hott 
to Manage a Team; Hovr 
to Umpire; Ho^v to Or- 
^fanize a Licasue; Tech- 
nical Term.s of Base Ball. 
A useful guide to all who are inter- 
ested in the above subjects. Price 10 
cents. 



g^ XSPALPING ATHLETIC Lffi RARY 



No. 219— Reatly Reckoner of 
Base Ball Pereentagres. 

To supply a demand for a book wliich 
would show the percentage of clubs 
without recourse to the ardous work of 
figuring, the publishers have had these 
tables compiled by an expert. Price 
10 cents, 

BASE BALL. AUXILIARIES. 

jVo. 1 A — Spaldiiift's Official 
Base Ball Record. 

Something new in Base Ball. Con- 
tains records of all kinds from the be- 
ginning of the National League and 
official averages of all professional or- 
ganizations for the past season. Illus- 
trated with pictures of leading players 
taken in action. Price 10 cents. 

No. 309— Minor League Base 
Ball Guide. 

The minors' own guide. Contains 
pictures of leading teams, schedules, 
report of annual meeting National 
Association of Professional Base Ball 
Leagues, special articles and official 
rules. Edited by President T. H. Mur- 
nane, of the New England League. 
Price 10 cents. 

No. 310— Official Handbook 
of the National League 
of Professional Base Ball 
Clubs. 

Contains the Constitution, By-Laws, 
Official Rules. Averages, and schedule 
of the National League for the current 
year, together with list of club officers 
and reports of the annual meetings of 
the League. Price 10 cents. 



Group II. Foot Ball 

No. 2— Spaldins's Official 
Foot Ball Guide. 

Edited by Walter Camp. 
Contains the new rules, 

[ >vith diagram of field ; All- 
America teams as selected 
by the leading authorities; 
reviews of the game from 
various sections of the 
country; scores; pictures. 

1 Price 10 cents. 




i 



\o. :iOO— How to Play Foot 
Ball. 

Edited by Walter Camp, of Yale. 
Everything that a beginner wants to 
know and many points that an expert 
will be glad to learn. Snapshots of 
leading teams and players in action, 
with comments by Walter Camp. 
Price 10 cents. 

No. 2A— Spaldins's Official 
Association Soccer Foot 
Ball Guide. 

A complete and up-to- 
date guide to the "'Soccer' 
game in the United States, 
containing instructions f oi 
playing the game, official 
rules, and interesting 
news from all parts of the 
country. Illustrated. Price 
10 cents. 

No. 286- How to Play Soc- 
cer. 

How each position should be played, 
written by the best player in England 
in his respective position, and illus- 
trated with full-page photographs of 
players in action. Price 10 cents. 

FOOT BALL AUXILIARIES. 
No. .^0.3— Spaldins's Official 
Canadian Foot Ball 

Guide. 

Edited by Frank D. Woodworth, 
Secretary-Treasurer Ontario Rugby 
Foot Ball Union. The official book of 
the game in Canada. Price 10 cents. 

Group III. Cricket 

No. .•?— Spaldins's Official 
Cricket Guide. 

The most complete year 
book of the game that has 
ever been published in 
America. Reports of 
special matches, official 
rules and pictures of all 
the leading teams. Price 
10 cents. 

\o. 277— Cricket; and How 
to Play it. 

By Prince Ranjitsinhji. The game 
described concisely and illustrated with 
full-page pictures posed especially for 
this book. Price 10 cents. 




\\ SPALDING ATHLETIC LIBRARY //^ 



Group IV. 



Lawn 
Tennis 




No. 4— Spalding's Official 
La-wii Tennis Annual. 

Contents include reports 
of all important tourna- 
ments; official ranking 
from 1885 to date; laws of 
lawn tennis; instructions 
for handicapping; deci- 
sions on doubtful points; 
management of tourna- 
ments; directory of clubs; 
laying out and keeping a court. Illus- 
trated. Price 10 cents. 



No. 157— HoTv to Play Lawn 
Tennis. 

A complete description of lawn ten- 
nis; a lesson for beginners and direc- 
tions telling how to make the most im- 
portant strokes. Illustrated. Price 
10 cents. 

No. 379— Strokes and Science 
of LiaTTn Tennis. 

By P. A. Vaile, a leading authority 
on the game in Great Britain. Every 
stroke in the game is accurately illus- 
trated and analyzed by the author. 
Price 10 cents. 




Golf 



Official 



Group V. 

No. 5— Spalding's 
Golf Gnide. 

Contains records of all 
Important tournaments, 
articles on the game in 
various sections of the 
country, pictures of prom- 
inent players, official play- 
ing rules and general 
items of interest. Price 
10 cents. 



No. 276— How to Play Golf. 

By James Braid and Harry Vardon, 
the world's two greatest players tell 
how they play the game, with numer- 
ous full-page pictures of them taken 
on the links. Price 10 cents. 




Group VI. Hockey 

No. 6— Spalding's Official Ice 
Hockey Guide. 

The official year book of 
the game. Contains the 
official rules, pictures of 
leading teams and players, 
records, review of the 
season, reports from dif- 
ferent sections of the 
United States and Canada. 
Price 10 cents. 

No. 304— How to Play Ice 
Hockey. 

Contains a description of the duties 
of each player. Illustrated. Price 10 

cents. 

No. 154— Field Hockey. 

Prominent in the sports at Vassar, 
Smith, Wellesley, Bryn Mawr and other 
leading colleges. Price 10 cents. 

!Vo. ISS — Liaw^n Hockey, 
Parlor Hockey, Garden 
Hockey. 

Containing the rules for each game. 
Illustrated. Price 10 cents. 

No. ISO— Ring Hockey. 

A new game for the gymnasium. 
Exciting as basket ball. Price 10 cents. 

HOCKEY AUXILIARY. 
No. a5«— Official Handbook 
of the Ontario Hockey 
Association. 

Contains the official rules of the 
Association, constitution, rules of com- 
petition, list of officers, and pictures of 
leading players. Price 10 cents. 

Basket 
Group VII. BaU 

\o. 7— Spalding's Official 
Basket Ball Guide. 

Edited by George T. 
Hepbron. Contains the 
revised official rules, de- 
cisions on disputed points, 
records of prominent ^^ 
teams, reports on the game " 
from various parts of the 
country. Illustrated. Price 
10 cents. 




g^ SPALDING ATHLETIC LIBRARY//^ 



No. 193— How to Play Basket 
Ball. 

By G. T. Hepbron, editor of the 
Official Basket Ball Guide. Illustrated 
with scenes of action. Price 10 cents. 



No. 260— Official Basket Ball 
Guide for Women. 

Edited by Miss Senda Berenson, of 
Smith College. Contains the official 
playing rules and special articles on 
the game by prominent authorities. 
Illustrated. Price 10 cents. 



BASKET BALL AUXILIARY. 
No. 290— Collegiate Basket 
Ball Handl^ook. 

The official publication of the Colle- 
giate Basket Ball Association. Con- 
tains the official rules, records, All- 
America selections, reviews, and pic- 
tures. Edited by H. A. Fisher, of 
Columbia. Price 10 cents. 

Group VIII. Bowling 

No. S— Spalding's Official 
Bowling Guide. 

The contents include: 
diagrams of effective de- 
liveries; hints to begin- 
ners: how to score; official 
rules; spares, how they 
are made; rules for cocked 
hat, quintet, cocked hat 
and feather, battle game, 
etc. Price 10 cents. 

_ T^ Indoor 
Group IX. Base Ball 

No. 9— Spalding's Official In- 
door Base Ball Guide. 

America's national game 
is now vieing with other 
indoor games as a winter 
pastime. This book con- 
tains the playing rules, 
pictures of leading teams, 
and interesting articles on 
the game by leading au- 
thorities on the subject. 
Price 10 cents. 



Group X. 



Polo 






No. lO— Spalding's 
Official Roller 
Polo Guide. 

Edited by J. C. Morse. 
A full description of the 
game; official rules, re- 
cords; pictures of promi- 
nent players. Price 10 cents 

No. 129— Water Polo. 

The contents of this book treat of 
every detail, the individual work of the 
players, the practice of the team, how 
to throw the ball, with illustrations and 
many valuable hints. Price 10 cents. 

No. 199— Equestrian Polo. 

Compiled by H. L. Fitzpatrick of the 
New York Sun. Illustrated with por- 
traits of leading players, and contains 
most useful information for polo play- 
ers. Price 10 cents. 

^ ^^ Miscellane- 
GroupXL ous Games 

No. 201 — Lacrosse. 

Every position is thoroughly ex- 
plained in a most simple and concise 
manner, rendering it the best manual 
of the game ever published. Illus- 
trated with numerous snapshots of im- 
portant plays. Price 10 cents. 

No. 297— Official Handbook 
U. S. Inter-Collegiate La- 
crosse League. 

Contains the constitution, by-laws, 
playing rules, list of officers and records 
of the association. Price 10 cents. 

No. 271— Spalding's Official 
Ro«iue Guide. 

The official publication of the Na- 
tional Roque Association of America. 
Contains a description of the courts 
and their construction, diagrams, illus- 
trations, rules and valuable informa- 
tion. Price 10 cents. 

No. 13S— Spalding's Official 
Croauet Guide 

Contains directions for playing, dia- 
grams of important strokes, description 
of grounds, instructions for the begin- 
ner, terms used in the game, and the 
official playing rules. Price 10 cents. 



^SPALDING ATHLETIC LIBRARY /7^ 



No. 24S— Archery. 

A new and up-to-date book on this 
fascinating pastime. The several 
varieties of archery; instructions for 
shooting; how to select implements; 
how to score; and a great deal of inter- 
esting information. Illustrated. Price 
10 cents. 

No. 194 — Raca"ct.s, Squash- 
Racquets and Court Ten- 
nis. 

How to play each game is thoroughly 
explained, and all the difficult strokes 
shown by special photographs taken 
especially for this book. Contains the 
official rules for each game. Price 10 
cents. 

No. 167— -Quoits. 

Contains a description of the plays 
used by experts and the official rules. 
Illustrated. Price 10 cents. 

No. 170— Push Ball. 

This book contains the official rules 
and a sketch of the game; illustrated. 
Price 10 cents. 

No. 13— How to Play Hand 
Ball. 

By the world's champion, Michael 
Egan. Every play is thoroughly ex- 
plained by text and diagram. Illus- 
trated. Price 10 cents. 

No. 14— Curliugr. 

A short history of this famous Scot- 
tish pastime, with instructions for 
play, rules of the game, definitions of 
terms and diagrams of different shots. 
Price 10 cents. 

No. 207— BowlinjJT on the 
Green; or, Lay^'n BotvIs. 

How to construct a green; how to 
play the game, and the official rules 
of the Scottish Bowling Association. 
Illustrated. Price 10 cents. 

No. ISO— Children's Games. 

These games are intended for use at 
recesses, and all but the team games 
have been adapted to large classes. 
Suitable for children from three to 
eight years, and include a great variety. 
Price 10 cents. 




No. ISS— L<a-*vn Games. 

Lawn Hockey, Garden Hockey, Hand 
Tennis, Tether Tennis; also Volley 
Ball, Parlor Hockey, Badminton, Bas- 
ket Goal. Price 10 cents. 

Group XII. Athletics 

No. 12— Spaldins's Official 
Athletic Almanac. 

Compiled by J. E. Sulli- 
van, President of the Ama- 
teur Athletic Union. The 
only annual publication 
now issued that contains 
a complete list of amateur 
best-on-records; intercol- 
legiate, English, swim- 
ming, interscholastic, Irish, Scotch, 
Swedish, Continental, South African, 
Australasian; numerous photos of in- 
dividual athletes and leading athletic 
teams. Price 10 cents. 

No. 27 — College Athletics. 

M. C. Murphy, the well-known ath- 
letic trainer, now with Pennsylvania, 
the author of this book, has written it 
especially for the schoolboy and college 
man, but it is invaluable for the athlete 
who wishes to excel in any branch of 
athletic sport; profusely illustrated. 
Price 10 cents. 

No. 1S2— All-Around Ath- 
letics. 

Gives in full the method of scoring 
the All-Around Championship; how to 
train for the All-Around Champion- 
ship. Illustrated. Price 10 cents. 

No. l.'jfj- Athlete's Guide. 

Full instructions for the beginner, 
telling how to sprint, hurdle, jump and 
throw weights, general hints on train- 
ing; valuable advice to beginners and 
important A. A. U. rules and their ex- 
planations, while the pictures comprise 
many scenes of champions in action. 
Price 10 cents. 



No. 2: 
at 



J5— The Olympic Games 
Athens 



A complete account of the Olympic 
Games of 1906, at Athens, the greatest 
International Athletic Contest ever 
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c'X^ SPALDING ATHLETIC LIBRARY /7=a 



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Well: Keep 



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A. G. SPAI.DING 

Fkom Photograph Taken in San Francisco 
IN November, 1879 



SPALDING'S ATHLETIC LIBRARY 
' GROUP I.. No. 202 



HOW TO PLAY 
BASE BALL 



NEW EDITION 



WRITTEN BY 

TIM MURNANE 



published by the 
American Sports Publishing Company 

21 warren street, new YORK 



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Two Copies KeceivgU 

MAh 28 15*08 



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COPY B. 



(i^OPVRIGHT, 1908 
BY 

American Sports Publishing Companv 
New York 



CONTENTS 

Preface . , . 

Introduction . 

The Art of Pitching 

The Catching Departnient 

The Infield of a Ball Team. 

Playing the Outfield 

The Fine Art of Batting 

The Art of Base-Running 

The Scjuecze Play 

The Delayed Steal . 

The Art of Throwing 

The Use of Signals . 

Short Talks on a Variety of Base Ball Topics. 

Spalding's Simplified Base Ball Rules , 



fAGE 

5 
7 

23 
35 
39 
49 
5^ 
56 
60 
61 
62 
63 
64 
73 




T. H. MURNAKE, 
The editor of this book, was a famous old-time ball player, and v 
now one of the leading authorities on the game ; is sporting editoi 
of the Boston "Globe," President of the New England League, and 
member of the Board of Arbitration of the National Association of 
Professional i?ase Ball Leagues, 



PREFACE 

Twelve years an active player, and for the last nineteen years 
a reporter of major league games for the daily press, should 
place one in a position to tell the real from the counterfeit in 
Base Ball. 

I claim no man is in a position to compare the present with 
the past if he has not witnessed the games of ten and twenty 
years ago, at a time when the great developers of the game 
were in their prime, and when the real genius was prominent. 

I will endeavor to show how the game should be played to 
gain the greatest success for the club, and not the individual, 
for a team of stars would not be successful in a season's cam- 
paign against an inferior team, pulling together and handled 
intelligently. 

By carefully noting the playing of the major league stars and 
winning combinations I have learned valuable lessons during the 
past season, for there are ever some new combinations being 
developed on the ball field. 

Beside carefully noting the points I thought might be valuable 
for this little work, I have quoted the best I could find from 
the experience of some great players. All aimed to give the 
reader a thorough knowledge of the playing of the game from 
winning angles. 

I have taken special pains to note the work of the successful 
pitchers, the clever batsmen, the run getters and the work of 
superior infielders. 

One chapter is devoted to the disturbing element of the game 
and is just as important as any other for a team trying to gain 
a high position in the race. 

The descriptions of the plays have been given in an off-hand 
manner, as the ball player as well as the fan seldom enjoys Base 
Ball screeds or stories dished up in pure English, without the 
trimmings. I fully believe this book will prove more interesting 
to my readers than even the previous number. 

All that I claim for this little book is originality, 

T. H. M. 




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INTRODUCTION 

The fundamental principles of Base Ball are as follows : 

First. 
The selection of players for nine different positions. 

Second. 
Individual and team training. 

Third. 
Perfect harmony aiid physical condition. 

Fourth. 
A thorough study of your opponents' style of play. 

Fifth. 
Adapting old plays and developing new ones. 

Sixth. 
A keen sense as to when to take long chances. 

Seventh. 
Playing the game until the last man is out. 

Eighth. 
Placing authority with capable leaders. 

Ninth. 
Showing proper courtesy to opponents and officials. 

Tenth. 
With heart and head in the work and a disposition to prac- 
tice vigorously. 

In selecting the different candidates for the nine positions of 
a ball team I would pick a catcher with good range, an accurate 
thrower from any position, a cool-headed man, who would note 
every move on the lield, and one who would work well with his 
pitchers. It requires a heady man behind the bat, as the catcher 
is the one who must steer the game. Right-hand throwers are 
necessary and men who can stand hard work preferred. 




Em 



SPALDING'S ATHLETIC LIBRARY. 

For pitchers I would pick out men who could field their posi- 
tion well and the next requirement would be control of the ball. 
Pitchers come in all sizes. Therefore the only extra work would 
be in covering ground around the front yard and the speed to 
get to first base. Pitchers must be more than automatons to 
hold their own in fast company at the present time. 

I would pick a tall, rangy player for first base, a man who 
had a natural gift for taking pickups ; a left-hand thrower would 
be my choice, as they are in a position to throw to the other 
bases after picking up a grounder. 

I would pick a medium-sized, well-built player for second base. 

For third base I would select a medium-sized player with a 
good range and a strong arm, who could throw from any posi- 
tion, both over and underhand. 

For shortstop I would have a medium-sized man who could 
get over ground quickly and, being close to the turf, would be 
more perfect on ground balls than a larger player. 

In the outfield I would pick out all left-hand hitters and right- 
hand throwers ; men who were fast runners preferred. 

Individual training should consist of batting practice, bunting 
to third and first, with both right and left-hand pitchers in the 
box ; place hitting and cutting away for a long drive. Each 
player would practice base-running, and endeavor to evade being 
touched out when near a base. 

In running to first base on a long drive to the outfield each 
player should turn first base on the run, heading for second 
base, and return when it was evident the ball was intercepted 
by the fielder. If fumbled, the runner would keep on to second. 
If the ball was thrown to first, move to second instead of trying 
to get back to first, as the ball would have to be handled per- 
fectly to get the runner once out of four times. 

For field practice I would hit grounders to the outfielders at 
short range, as well as practice on long flies ; in fact, most out- 
fielders practice too little on ground balls, waiting to have the 
ball come to them, when the proper play is to come in and meet 
the grounder, keeping the ball well i'l front, and taking chances 
by trapping the ball before it rises for a sneak bound. 

The aggressive team always wins in Base Ball, just as the 
best batsmen step into the ball when pitched, while the weak 
batsmen pull away. 

College men are far ahead of professionals in sizing up their 
opponents. They go as far as keeping a record of each batsman, 
and each player is coached in the style of ball and to what field 
each opponent is likely to hit and the pitcher is supposed to 
work his man according to the information furnished by some 
expert, who has followed the other fellow for several games. 



SPALDIxNGS ATHLETIC LIBRARY. 11 

The development of team playing takes continual practice and 
a natural leader ; then it is up to the skill and heart of the 
players. . 

High class players figure out the percentage of chances from 
experience. Where the hitting is light the base-runners must 
take long chances ; where the score is close they must also take 
long chances. When in the lead it pays to be conservative, but 
when making an up-hill fight long chances should be taken with 
the batting, and base-running must be played for a certainty. 
The catcher must be a judge of when a base-runner will take 
a chance, and then work with his pitcher. The pitcher must 
call the turn when a batsman intends to bunt-hit for the base- 
runner as well as when laying for a long drive. The first- 
baseman should call the turn on the batsman, to be in shape to 
make a play to the other bases. The shortstop and second- 
baseman should size up the batsman and runner when out for 
the hit-and-run game and be careful not to leave an opening. 
The great men of these positions never move until sure the ball 
will not be hit at when they start for the base and who are 
capable of taking a sharp throw from the catcher under a full 
headway. In this style of work all catchers must be well 
trained to throw dead over second between knee high and the 
shoulder to get a fast man. 

Third base is the most difficult position on a ball field at the 
present time, as one must be in for the bunts and back for the 
hard drives. The third-baseman should take every grounder 
that he can get his hands on and must be equally sure with 
either hand, as the wide grounders to his left must be picked 
up on the run with one hand as well as the slow bunts that 
must be thrown with the same hand that picked them up. 

I would always insist on perfect harmony, and where it was 
evident that a player failed to fit in nicely with his fellow pla3^ers 
I would make a change even were I forced to take a weaker 
but more pliable man. I would keep a close watch on the 
players and note their physical condition daily, and when out of 
condition would not insist on their w^orking, prefering to save 
the good men for another time when they would have more 
heart for their work and inspire the other players. 

I would engage a club physician that would make a thorough 
examination of each man at least monthly and give the manage- 
ment an honest report. Ball players must be in fine condition 
to go through a season and do their best work. Players who 
would refuse to keep in shape would be marked for the ex- 
change list at once, as harmony and condition are absolutely 
necessary to keep to the front. 

Tt should be the duty of the captain and manager of a team 



SPALDING'S ATHLETIC LIBRARY. 13 

to Study the work of each opponent, and then talk the matter 
over with the other members of the team, mapping out a Hne of 
defence and also a line of attack, after discovering the weakness 
of the other teams. 

The plans should be concealed as much as possible, but so 
thoroughly understood and practiced that there will be no 
bungling. 

The aggressive end of the game must start with the pitcher 
and continue with the base-running and batting. The defence in 
Base Ball is in placing your men in a position to face the batted 
balls and in throwing. > 

In developing plays for a team the standard moves ca.inot 
be passed up and must be perfected before undertaking new ones. 
New combination plays are scarce ; in fact, years often go by 
without a new one being introduced; still, the old plays, varied, 
will make considerable difference. A bunting team can be 
stopped by bringing the third-baseman up, thereby forcing the 
batsmen to hit out ; in this case the shortstop is forced to come 
around well towards third, playing a deep field to get the hard 
drives that would pass a third-baseman playing close in to stop 
bunting. In studying your opponent it is often necessary to 
make a move to draw him out and then change on the next play. 

The shortstop should make a point of covering third when 
the third-baseman goes in for a ground ball. The second-base- 
man should make a point of covering first base when the first- 
baseman goes in for a slow grounder, as the pitcher will very 
often interfere and fail to cover the base, as he would on a fast 
grounder blocked by the first-baseman. Covering first and third 
base by the second-baseman and shortstop has grown to be a 
very important factor in the winning of games. 

No play requires any more instinctive action than throwing to 
second by the third-baseman when looking for a force-out and 
often a double play. Sharp, but with medium speed, so the ball 
can be handled for a second throw. It has been the remarkable 
accuracy in this style of throwing that has made certain third- 
basemen extremely valuable to their teams. Collins. Bradley, 
Leach, Devlin, Lave Cross, Coughlin, Brain and Tannehill, in 
particular, of the present players, and Denney, Mulvey, Nash, 
Sutton, Whitney, McGraw, Burns and Ferguson of the retired 
stars, adding much to the development of the game by their all- 
round marvelous throwing. 

Outfielders should work together as if pulled by one string 
and receive a tip on just how the ball is to be delivered to the 
batsman. A strong outfield can make is very unpleasant for the 
heavy hitters. Less than ten per cent, of the players are place 
hitters and really know where the ball may go when they slug 



SrALl)IX(;\S ATHLETIC LIliUAliY. 15 

aikl meet the l)all. The ollur ninety ])ei cenl. will hit lo cither 
the right or left tield, eight out of ten times, and their hits 
anticipated. The left-hand batsmen are the easiest to play for, 
as they -usually drive short liners to left, and swing for long 
drives to right field, seldom meeting the ball for a long hit to 
center field. 

Where one run might win a game, with a runner at second, 
it pays to bring the outtield in close, to make a sure out at the 
plate should the batsman hit a grounder to the outfield ; all balls 
thrown to the home plate from the outfield should come in on 
a bound, two sharp bounds usually proving the surest way to 
get a runner, as the catcher can block his man as well as handle 
the ball. 

The difference between great ball teams and ordinary ones is 
the difference between quick thinking and stereotyped ball play- 
ing, or an actual negative condition when called on for brilliant 
work. 

Many players work on the feeling of opponents and often 
manage to attract their attention away from the work in hand. 
This is not good Base Ball and sooner or later will act like a 
boomerang on the man who drops low enough to use these 
methods to win ball games. Nagging the umpire is a losing 
game, and the player who treats the official with the most con- 
sideration is sure to get at least all that is coming to him in 
the long run and especially on the road. 

Some managers will work to w^orry the official in hopes that 
he will weaken and rather than be made a target, give the 
kicker a shade the best of it. The umpire, however, who will 
permit this line of attack is not fit for a berth in any Base Ball 
league. 

I have seen many games pulled out after two men w^ere down 
in the ninth, and the best advice one could heed is, never quit 
until the last man is out. A team with a reputation for playing 
to the close will always worry their opponents, while the team 
looked on as "quitters" will go down by the sure line. When 
behind, keep working hard with the hope that luck will over- 
take you and your opportunity come before the day is over. The 
winning ball pla^'er must be a man of wholesale courage and 
saturated with the spirit of victor}', even after many defeats. 

Luck plays a very important part in the game and it is almost 
impossible to be successful unless the cards break just a little 
better than even for you. There is not a team game known to 
man, where luck plays as many pranks as in Base Ball. The 
fierce drive may go into a fielder's mitt, while the scratch hit 
will drop safe just over the heads of the infielder. In Base Ball 
you can force your luck by taking long chances and making 




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SPALDING'S ATHLETIC LIBRARY. 17 

unlooked-for plays. The reputation of the players should never 
disconcert you, for good team work will discount a team of star 
players. 

Absolute authority should be placed in one person by the 
owners of a ball team and this person should be allowed to 
work out his own campaign from start to finish, for he might 
have a poor lot of players and be held responsible, when he 
would have made a success of proper talent. The leader of a 
ball team must be in close touch with his men, who must have 
their utmost confidence. The players must feel that their leader 
knows his little book and he must be a man of kind heart, but 
game to the core. The leader is everything in the game, and no 
team has an earthly chance without a natural born leader. 

The best of players often make weak leaders, as they fail to 
hold the admiration of the players. The leader of a ball team 
cannot afford to show that he must depend on others, but, after 
listening to all advice given, must select his own course, holding 
every player down to the rank of a private, for all must slide 
and soil their uniforms if they expect to win ball games. 

The field leader can often listen to good advice from some 
retired Base Ball man, or even fans will see faults in a ball 
team. A good listener counts for much, and Frank G. Selee, 
the very best listener the game has turned out, was the gainer, 
for he took mental notes and turned to advantage liberal sug- 
gestions. 

No leader can succeed who humiliates his players or allows 
anyone to abuse them in his presence. Players have their off 
days and the man who leads them to victory or defeat must 
always champion their cause, when attacked from the outside. 

It was Napoleon who said that he would rather fight an army 
of lions led by a deer than an army of deer led by a lion. 

It is all in the leader, and nowhere any more so than in Base 
Ball. 

As the greatest all-round leader the game ever produced I 
would pick President Charles A. Comiskey of the Chicago 
American League club. Comiskey is a leader of leaders, both 
on and off the ball field, setting a killing pace for all other as- 
pirants, but as modest as all great leaders should be. Comiskey 
gets the best out of every man by his clean-cut logic and kind 
treatment. 

I never could understand why professional ball players should 
try to injure each other, or, in fact, act other than friendly to 
one another, for the moment a player is considered capable of 
tripping or spiking a fellow player, he is sure to receive many 
bumps himself. Strict attention to business by each player is 
the only lasting composition for a ball team. The teams, who 




The out-curve is produced usually by grasping the ball with the first 
two fingers and the thumb, with the back of the hand turned downward. 
The fingers are pressed firmly against the ball, which is gripped tight. The 
oiil-curve may b^ either fast or slow. 




The in-curve is pitched with a side-arm motion, the ball being released 
over the tips of the first two fingers, the arm being swept around with a 
lateral motion. Some pitchers throw an in-curve by grasping the ball 
with all four fingers and permitiing it to slip over the tips. 



SPALDING'S ATHLETIC LIBRARY. 19 

win for a time by underhand methods, come to gnet, and are 
soon forgotten, while the clean-cut playing teams are a source 
of pleasure to their friends after they have passed up the game. 

Men of the Jim Collins and Lave Cross stamp have played 
phenomenal ball for years without doing a trick to which the 
most delicate player could object, with the result that the 
players who would bother other basemen, would pass up the 
above-named two, as it was considered bad form to stretch a 
point with men of the above calibre. The result was that Collins 
and Cross played every game for years. 

Great ball players should never make a false move to win the 
most important game, and usually the great players are the 
cleanest kind of workmen. The day for tripping, holding and 
browbeating is gone, and let us hope forever. All men should 
be equal when the}' appear on a ball field, and nothing but their 
fair ball playing should go. 

If would not be a bad idea to pass laws preventing players 
from speaking to the umpires during a ball game, under a heavy 
penalty. The spectators keep an eye on the actions of the 
players and never make a protest until receiving their cue from 
the players. 

I would impress the players with the importance of satisfying 
the public who support the game so handsomely, by always 
showing a disposition to do their very best, for the public will 
stand for a team in hard luck if they only show they are in 
dead earnest every time they go out on the field. The public, 
too, are critical and are ever noting the physical condition of 
the players, and this should be an extra inducement for the boys 
to get in shape early and work to keep so all season. 

The man who makes Base Ball a profession should work 
morning as well as afternoon to perfect himself in the trade. 

Years ago, at Cleveland, a lot of star players went to the 
park every morning, but enjoyed the shade of the club house in 
preference to field work. There was one player more ambitious 
than the rest, who would go out and bat for hours at a time, 
with a crowd of boys fielding the ball. This young man met his 
fellow players several years later and reminded them of his 
practice work, remarking. "You are out of the game now, boys, 
while I am getting the money still." This man was Jesse 
Burkett. who led the National League several times, and who 
led the New England League last season, hitting the ball about 
as well as ever. He practiced while the others loafed and the 
result was that he is still getting the money, while they are down 
and out as far as Base Ball goes. 

Players should pay no attention to the spectators and play as 
if there was no music in the cheer or hiss of the fan. 



SrALDlNG'S ATHLETIC LIBRARY. 21 

Practice at the bat, practice fielding ground balls, practice 
fielding fly balls, practice at every opportunity, for there is 
many a great ball player who became so only through the hardest 
kind of practice. 

Put life into your practice work, and make plays even quicker 
than if playing in a game. Fast practice develops fast ball 
playing, and fast ball playing wins ball games. 

All ball parks should be furnished with batting nets. In this 
way the batter can pick up the ball and toss it back to the 
pitcher, doing away with a catcher. If a player is not an accu- 
rate thrower, practice will make him so. Throw at a target 
daily and practice throwing with the wrist and elbow, without 
any assistance from the shoulder. Snappy throwing from the 
wrist is easily developed by practice. 

Pitchers should never overdo the practice end of the game, as 
they get more than their share of work during the regular game. 

Catchers should practice throwing to second, covered and un- 
covered, and the outfielders should practice on ground balls and 
throwing in to the bases. 




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SrALDlXG'ti ATHLETIC LIBKAUY. 23 



THE ART OF PITCHING 

It is usually the ambition of all ball players to be able to pitch 
a curve ball, and few great players have passed up a chance to 
become the regular pitcher of his team. There is a great fascina- 
tion about delivering a ball to a batsman, confined to certain 
limits, with an umpire to call balls and strikes, for the first 
essential in pitching is command of the ball in all the curves and 
shoots. 

Working a batsman is a fine art and comes after a full knowl- 
edge of the curves and up-to-date shoots that goes with a star 
boxman. 

Temperament is another essential to success, for a pitcher can 
worry himself into poor work, especially when he expects the 
umpire to see every ball as he sees them as they head for the 
plate. 

A pitcher who never fails to cover first base when the ball is 
hit in that direction practically becomes a tenth man for his 
team, as he allows the first-baseman to make running stops well 
to his right, and come in under full steam for slow ones, knowing 
that the pitcher will cover the base for the throw. 

This play requires constant practice, and when missed should 
go down as an error for the boxman. 

Pitchers should work hard to perfect their fielding to the right, 
as clever men will take advantage and bunt the ball in that 
direction. 

Two preliminary motions are necessary for a pitcher : The 
free off-hand swing, to loosen out and get momentum before 
cutting the ball to the plate, when there is no one at first or 
second base, and the short, snappy move, made before delivering 
the ball, with men on the bases. Each move requires almost as 
much practice as learning to curve the ball. 

The pitcher without a free, open action will soon tire and lose 
interest in his work, while the pitcher who can bring to bear the 
different parts of the body and go along with a free joint will 
prove a stayer. 

A pitcher must be resourceful and keep a close tab on the 
weakness of his opponents. 

Curve pitching was discovered and controlled for the first time 
on Jarvis Field, Cambridge, by Arthur Cummings, a Brooklyn 
amateur, in 1867, who proved that a ball sent spinning through 



SPALDING'S ATHLETIC LIBRARY. 25 

the air would create a cushion and finally throw the sphere off 
a true course. Working on this theory, and often perhaps by 
accident, pitchers have discovered other curves and shoots, until 
no one man has mastered all the curves, and for this reason it is 
well to note what the different pitchers have to say about their 
styles since becoming successful. 

Tim Keefe was famous years ago, when a member of the 
original New York Giants, with a peculiar slow ball that no 
pitcher has been able to get since. Keefe held the ball well back 
in the hand and controlled the ball with the heel of his thumb, 
not allowing the fingers to touch the ball. It seemed utterly im- 
possible to control a ball in this manner, but Keefe did. and 
could hit a bull's eye nine times out of ten. It was a slow ball 
with a drop curve and started with a fast preliminary motion, 

Bobby Mathews in 1872 was the first to introduce a perfect 
raise curve. The raise used by McBride about the same time 
was the result of sending the ball with an underhand throw from 
close to the ground. Mathews made the ball spin like a top and 
come to a stop before rising as it came to the batsman and when 
not hit on the dead center. 

The raise curve was introduced by Harry McCormick with 
the Syracuse Stars of 1876. About this time Trickey Nichols 
of the New Haven club was pitching a most tantalizing drop 
ball. Later Rhines came along with a raise ball, copied later 
still by McGinnity. Mathews, Rhines and McGinnity are the only 
men ever known to get the proper effect on this style of de- 
livery. A fast ball with a jump was claimed by several pitchers, 
but worked by Charley Nichols, while with Boston, to better 
advantage than ever before. 

Charley Sweeney introduced the incurve, or fade away ball, 
while with Providence in 1884. The drop curve was effectively 
used by William Dineen and others within the last few years. 

A pitcher might have all the curves and the speed and yet 
be a poor workman unless he had control and used head work 
in feeding the batsman. 

The following advice by well-known pitchers is well worth 
considering : 

Mathewson : "No pitcher with a good assortment of curves 
should be required to play in more than two games a week. A 
great amount of tissue is broken down in the arm that does 
the work during the course of a game, and it takes a lot of time 
to rebuild it." 

Orth: "A pitcher should always keep on the lookout for a 
batter's weakness, for some fellows can kill one ball and are 
easy meat for another. The ones hardest to pitch to are those 
that hug the plate close and chop at a ball instead of swinging. 



Sl^Al.DlXrrs ATHLETIC Lll'.UAUY. 2t 

'J'hoso fellows llial sl.ind back and swing hard arc no trouble for 
a pitcher who keeps his eyes open to what is going on." 

PhilHppe: "Learn the weaknesses of opposing batsmen and 
pitch accordingly. The successful pitcher knows exactly what 
the men who face him can not hit. and either pitches those balls 
to them or else tempts them with the kind they like, but keeps 
the latter so far from the plate that they cannot hit them safely, 
if at all." 

Orth : 'T early recognized the fact that if I desired to remain 
in the game I would have to resort to something diiTerent from 
throwing, curves all the time. I soon found out that if I had the 
ability to send the balls where I wanted to and could acquire 
the ability to mix the balls up, that I would make the needed 
progress in acquiring the art of effectiveness, and command has 
alw:ays been my long suit from that time. 'Aim to put them 
where you want to.' That is my advice to young pitchers. Study 
your batsman. Do not make the mistake of trying to fool bats- 
men who will not hit unless you put them over. You just waste 
your strength on such. These men are good waiters and will 
just play for a base on balls from a wild pitcher. The range a 
pitcher has is considerable after all. He can put the balls high 
or low, in or out, as suits his fancy, working the corners ac- 
cording to the batsman." 

Phillippe: "The pitcher must have strength and endurance far 
beyond what is required of the other players. I think it a fair 
inference that the larger man is more likely to have the advan- 
tage in this respect. It is true there have been many notable 
lightweight pitchers, but how long did they last? Can the records 
of 'Bobby' Mathews or 'Brownie' Foreman be compared with that 
of 'Cy' Young? As a matter of fact, Mathews, the most famous 
lightweight pitcher in the history of the game, stood only forty- 
five feet from the plate, while "the pitcher of to-dav must send 
the ball sixty feet. I venture the assertion that if Mathews were 
at his best to-day he would not last a week in any league. The 
v/ork has become too hard for the lightweight, and I would not 
advise any young player, whose size places him in this class, to 
waste his time trying to become a pitcher. He may succeed for 
a time, but he cannot last well enough to take his regular turn in 
fast company." 

There is so much good sense in the above advice by Phillippe 
that I want to put him right. When Mathews was at his best the 
pitching distance was 50 feet and not 45, as stated by the Pitts- 
burg man. who probably never saw Mathews pitch a Base Ball. 
Mathews had a peculiar knack of pitching that made it easy 
for him to pitch every day. He had mystifying curves, fine speed 
and a change of pace. Then, working each man for the limit, 




HOW BALL IS GRASPED FOR START OF THE "FADEAWAY. 




THE BALL LEAVING THE HAND AS IT GETS THE FINAL TWIST 
OF THE WRIST FOR THE "FADEAWAY." 



SPALDING'S ATHLETIC LIBRARY. 29 

Mathews would have no trouble in holding his own, and was 
superior even to Mr. Phillippe, his critic. 

Mathewson : "For the 'fadeaway,' the ball is held very loosely 
at the tips of the fingers, the first two fingers being above the 
ball and the thumb belov^ it. The arms are thrown high above 
the head, but when the pitching arm begins to start the horse- 
hide on its way the arm is brought out from the side of the 
body and raised to an angle of about 45 degrees. This motion 
is gone through so quickly, however, that it is practically im- 
possible for the batsman to detect the fact that he is going to get 
something very different from a drop curve. In the drop curve 
the arm descends straight down in front, but in the fade-away 
the motion of the arm from its position at an angle of 45 degrees 
is a small outward swing. When the arm gets in front of the 
pitcher just about on the level with his chin the hand is given 
a sharp twist inw^ard, or to the left, which brings the back of the 
hand on top, and the loosely held ball, which is revolving from 
the rapid action of the arm, slips out sideways or off the second 
finger. At the same time there is a rotary motion given to the 
hand. When the ball leaves the hand the arm is so twisted that 
the palm of the hand faces outward." 

Mathewson is the only pitcher at the present time pitching the 
incurve or "fade-away" ball, as he calls it, although pitchers have 
tried in vain to master this curve for the last twenty years. 
Charley Sweeney, with the Providence club in 1884, struck out 
nineteen of the Boston players in a nine-inning game with this 
same ball. It was so trying on the arm, however, that he had 
to give it up. After the games for the world's championship in 
1905, Mathewson was forced to place his wrist in a plaster cast 
as the result of this style of pitching. Mathewson is a perfect 
build for pitching, with a long reach, long velvet fingers and a 
good head for detail. He has perhaps mastered more curves than 
any other man in the business. It would be a waste of time for 
an ordinary pitcher to try to master the fade-away curve, and it 
W'ill be a long time before we see another Mathewson on the 
ball field. 

Harry Howell : Howell declares that the thumb is the con- 
trolling element in the ''spit" ball. ''Wetting the ball where the 
two first fingers rest on it has the effect of making the ball leave 
the fingers first and the thumb last," says Howell. "You know, 
when you pick up a ball to throw it you usually grasp it firmly 
with the two first fingers and thumb. If the ball is dry it 
naturally leaves the thumb first and the fingers last. But when 
you wet the ball in one spot it has a tendency to deflect the 
course, and the ball leaves the fingers first, passing over the 
thumb last. This is the whole mystery of the 'spit' ball. The 




MATHEWSON (NEW YORK NATIONAL) PREPARING FOR 
A SPEEDY INSHOOT, 



SPALDlNCrS ATHLETIC LIP.KARY. 31 

fingers ha\c nolhing' to do with the curve. It is the thumb that 
acts as the propeUer. 1 constantly use slippery elm lo increase 
the flow of saliva, thus making it easy to throw the 'spit' ball." 

1"his is- how Alalhewson gets the drop curve ball. "To deliver 
this ball the arms nuist be thrown high above the head," he 
says. "As the pitching arm rapidly descends straight forward 
the arm is turned slightly outward, and when the arm is hori- 
zontal the hand is turned slightly outward and the snap, a hard 
one, is given i)y the wrist, and the greater the snap the faster 
\\\\\ be the curve. 

"in holding the ball the fn-st two fingers arc above it and the 
thumb below. The ball is held rather loosely. When the twist 
or snap of the wrist takes place at the moment of delivery the 
hand turns so that the thumb is on top of the ball and the first 
two lingers below it. A full arm swing is used. The body 
is bent far forward so that all the weight of the body is behind 
the ball, and as the arm descends with a mighty swing the 
w^eight of the body is shifted from 'right foot to the left. Under 
no circumstances use moisture when delivering this great puzzler 
to batsmen. On leaving the hand the ball travels in a straight 
line until just before it reaches the plate, when it breaks sharply 
downward in front of the batter. 

"As can be well guessed such a ball is a great strain on the 
muscles of the arm when delivered with all the power a pitcher 
possesses. Like all ciu-ves the l)all can be used at varying speeds. 
When men are not on bases it is a tine ball to pitch if it is de- 
sired to make the batter send out a grounder that can be easily 
fielded. In fact, any curve can be used fast or slow with this 
purpose in view. 

"By not bringing the ball quite so high above the shoulder 
when starting to make the throw an outdrop can be attained. I 
seldom consider it necessary, however, to try the outdrop. It 
has less space in which to be called a fair ball wdien passing 
over the plate, and is therefore more risky. The regular drop 
curve has all the space between the batter's shoulders and knees 
to make the batter score a strike, while the outcurve has but 
the width of tlic plate." 

Frank Donahue says : "To get the outcurve. hold the ball 
tightlv between the two first fingers and thumb, and swing the 
arm well out. snapping the wrist to make the ball spin as much 
as possible while turning the i^alm down." 

Vic Willis says: "The drop ball is the most trying one on the 
arm. I hold the ball between the two first fingers and thumb, 
and start the ball from as high a position as T can get. letting the 
ball slip off the index finger, while turning the palm of the hand 
down. By a double motion or snap of the elbow and wrist, 1 get 
the combination of drop and curve together." 




kf 



"three-fin geked" pitcher. 



;i 

■^SED 



SrALDING\S ATHLETIC LIBRARY. 33 

William Dinecn says : "The drop outcurve I find the most 
effective ball against right-handed batsmen; I hold the ball the 
same for every ball I pitch, but allow the drop ball to leave from 
the top of "the second finger after bringing the hand down from 
the highest position I can get in a long swing and, by an extra 
move to effect the curve, get the drop curve, which I think is the 
rnost trying ball a pitcher can deliver. The drop, itself, is not so 
difficult, but the combination of drop curve requires a long reach 
and the gift of being competent to work all the curves and 
shoots." 

Cy Young says: "The jump ball can be produced only by great 
speed. The ball is thrown with a full arm swing right from the 
shoulder, and out from under the fingers, which are straightened 
out as the ball leaves for the bat. The idea is to get a jump on 
the ball just as it comes to the plate, nearly shoulder high." 

Jack Chesbro says : "The spit ball is worked entirely by the 
thumb. The saliva one puts on the ball does not affect its course 
in any way, but is put on the ball for the sole purpose of making 
the fingers slip off the ball first. Excepting the spit ball, every 
ball that goes from the pitcher leaves the fingers last. In throw- 
ing curves the fingers do the work. By wetting the ball it leaves 
the fingers first, and the thumb last, and the spit ball could be 
rightly called a thumb ball. It is not necessary to thoroughly wet 
the ball. All you need to do is to moisten it so as to remove 
the friction from the part of the ball the fingers cover, and 
which slides off the fingers." 

Plank, of the Athletics, says : "I study the batsman in every 
way ; his position in the box, his general attitude, the way he 
holds his bat and any other individual characteristic he may have. 
These help the experienced pitcher to get a line on what may 
be the best ball to use. If he knows the batsman well, that may 
be of some use, but not necessarily so. A young pitcher entering 
a new league cannot know the batsmen like an old-timer, yet he 
must make good from the start to hold his position. He must 
depend entirely on what he can learn on the instant from the 
batters as they take their places in turn before him and the ability 
he has to make use of this information. A good catcher is a 
big help. He is right at the plate and can see the batsman better 
than the pitcher, and ought to know just what ball is likely to 
be most effective. I generally give my catcher the kind of ball 
he signs for, but use my own judgment as to how high or how 
near the batter to put it. I try to some extent to work corners — 
that is, to get the ball over, but keep away from the center of 
the plate — but when the batter is badly puzzled, or 'faded,' as we 
say, it is almost perfectly safe to put it anywhere so it goes 
over." 



« 






X 





■» 



CHARLES A. BENDER, THE NOTED INDIAN PITCHER 
OF THE PHILADELPHIA ATHLETICS. 



SfALDINCi'S ATHLETIC LIBRAtlt. 35 



THE CATCHING DEPARTMENT 

Catchers should have a fine reach ami he quick, accurate 
throwers from most any position the}- may happen to l)e when the 
ball is received. 

Without first-class catching no team has a chance these days, 
for base-running will win over batting and a weak catcher will 
make easy base-stealing. 

Catchers should have nerve; be ever cool and heady; sign for 
the pitched balls and coach the infield and outfield. 

The catcher must be alive to ever}- pla}- on the board and is 
usually the central figure. 

The big mitt has made possible cncnigh catchers to go round 
as natural catchers are few and far apart. Nearly all must work 
with signs and have the ball handed wlien the base-runner is 
about to take a chance for second. 

Catchers should have signs with both first and third bases and 
often snap the ball to those points when the men are taking 
ground freely. Lou Criger of the Boston Americans has some- 
thing on any catcher that ever stood behind the plate and is al- 
ways in a position to throw, no matter what way he gets the 
ball. He catches season after season without ever meeting a 
serious accident and never complains of a lanie arm. lie is the 
living model to-day for all catchers. 

The advice he gives is worth reading: 

''A catcher who. cannot throw swiftly and accurately to the 
bases is of little use to a team, lie is called upon mostly to 
throw to second base, and it is this point of the diamond that 
he should cultivate his eye for distance and arm for the throw. 

"One of the most spectacular features of a game is the attempt 
of a base-runner to pilfer second base, and then the catcher has 
his work cut out for him in earnest, and the outcome of his 
efi^ort to shut ofif the runner is awaited with expectation. 

'The catcher should have an understanding with his pitcher on 
what to expect when a runner reaches first base. If the base- 
runner is known for his stealing propensities and is likely to go 
down the catcher should signal for a wide ball that the batter will 
not try to reach. There must be no preliminary motions in the 
catcher's movements in his act of getting the ball away. It 
should be one continuous action from the instant the ball leaves 
the pitcher's hand. The throwing arm goes back with the ball 



SPALDING'S ATHLETIC LIBRARY. 37 

and is hurled to the base without a hitch. The throw ought to 
be ]ow and close to the base so that the second-baseman can put 
the ball on the runner without the least trouble. 

"To get runners off third and first base the catcher should use 
a snap throw in which the wrist develops its greatest power, as 
the play must be done with all the deception possible. It is a 
dangerous habit to throw to the bases indiscriminately and 
should be avoided as much as possible. Only the surest throwers 
should take chances to catch runners off the bases spoken of, 
as a misplay would result disastrously. 

"Oftentimes a pitcher's effectiveness is due to the good support 
that he receives from his catcher, who can by his ease and poise 
behind the plate influence the temperament of his boxman. 

"A catcher should make the reception of the ball look easy and 
not fight it, making unnecessary hard work for himself and put- 
ting any distress on his pitcher. 

"Young pitchers can be jollied along by an experienced catcher 
and the symptoms of stage fright made void by the proper treat- 
ment. 

"A catcher can't be awkward and cover his position satisfac- 
torily, as he has much to perform in his territory which must 
be accepted at quick notice. In going after foul flies back of the 
plate he must get the direction of the ball as if by intuition and 
turn simultaneously, ridding himself of his mask, and be able to 
take the ball at any angle.'' 



SPALDING'S ATHLETIC LIBRARY. SS 



THE INFIELD OF A BALL TEAM 

A tall, aci'ive man sIkjuM be selected for first base, and while 
some rather medium-sized players have played a clever first base 
yet a man less than six feet in height is handicapped for want of 
reach in going after wide throws. 

On ground balls the smaller man is better, and for second base 
a player should be under five feet ten, about five feet seven 
being the ideal height for a second baseman. 

The shortstop should also be a medium-sized player, not over 
five feet ten at the most, while the third baseman should be 
perhaps from five feet nine up. The running plays at short and 
second base require great speed in action from all angles, and 
none but a small man has a chance to change positions while 
under full speed, although Lajoie and Wagner, two phenomenal 
players, are exceptions to the rule. 

The iirst-baseman must be able to field a ball as well as the 
other positions in the infield and must play the ball on the run. 
He should run in for every slow ball that comes into the left 
of the pitcher, while the pitcher covers first base. The first- 
baseman has a better chance to handle the ball as he is coming 
in, while the pitcher would be handicapped by trying to take the 
ball as he bent down running sideways. 

The first-baseman should go to his right for every ball that he 
can handle either to second or to first base. In all such cases 
the pitcher or second-baseman should cover first base and the 
shortstop go to second base. 

The catching of a thrown ball is about the simplest work a 
first-baseman has to perform these days. 

Short, snappy underhand throwing is the proper thing for a 
player covering first base and continual getting rid of the ball 
after a catch will improve the speed of a player's work when the 
time conies for real action. 

A second-baseman should be able to throw both over and 
imder-handed. as well as toss the ball both forward and back- 
handed, especially to second base, on a force play ; in fact, man}' 
plays have been made by scooping the ball on the dead run and 
landing it in the proper place. 

Shortstop is simply second base over again, as short must take 
throws and often play well into the third-baseman's territory 
for left-handed hitters, and in deep field for place hitters, so 



SrALDING'S ATHLETIC LIBRARY. 41 

that the shortstop and second-basemen must work together like 
a machine. I beheve the shortstop has the most difficult position 
to fill to-day on a ball field, as he not only has to cover second 
base and back up third, but he has the longest throws to make. 

The third-baseman should play on the base line for all bats- 
men, keeping an eye out for the hunter and must call the turn 
as the batsman gets in shape to meet the ball. He must play 
nine-tenths of the bunt hits on the run with one hand, and 
throw accurately to first. A third-baseman should go for the 
ground balls hit to his left, regardless of the shortstop, playing 
the wide ones mostly with the left-hand and changing for the 
throw to first. 

Throwing to second for a force-out requires quick thought and 
accuracy, as the ball must be given tcJ the man covering the bag 
in such a way that he can swing and shoot it to first for a double 
play. It is not necessary to throw hard, but the ball should be on 
the way the instant it is picked up, with the knowledge that the 
base will be covered for the play. 

With a man at second figuring on a steal of third the short- 
stop should play rather close to the base and hold his man. 
This he must also do with a third-baseman looking for a bunt. 
A slow man at second will handicap the man who is trying to 
sacrifice, as the second-baseman will hold his man close to the 
bag, with the idea of having the ball fielded to third base for a 
force-out. With a clever catcher the basemen can often get men 
off the bases at important stages of the game. 

While clever basemen cannot be caught by trap work, two- 
thirds of the men who play ball are slow thinkers and need con- 
stant coaching to keep out of the pitfalls planned for their 
benefit. 

The double throw, wMth men at first and third, has been worked 
for a dozen or more years and is a lost art to most teams. Prac- 
tice will overcome trouble in this line of work. 

Judgment should be exercised in playing close up for the man 
at the plate. It often pays to let one man go and cut off what 
might develop into a bunch of runs for your opponent. For 
example, with the score two to nothing and the game well over 
it would be the proper play to let the run score and play for the 
batsman. There are times, too, when a double play would be the 
thing, and with a slow runner at the bat would be a fair chance 
to take (for you must take long chances at times) and it is 
simply a case of calling the turn, and calling it right from long 
experience and a knowledge of the men you are playing against. 

The following advice by well-known professionals is well worth 
repeating, and the poorest player can often add a wise sug- 
gestion : 



SPALDING'S ATHLETIC LIBRARY. 43 

"Excepting the pitcher and the catcher, no player on the field 
handles the ball so often in a game as the second-baseman. In 
only a small proportion of the number of times he gets the ball 
are there opportunities for making a put-out or an assist, but 
there is always a chance to make a costly error. He must, 
therefore, never relax his vigilance or lose his grip of the situa- 
tion. He must work in perfect harmony with the other men in 
the infield, and especially with the shortstop. To do this, he 
nnist make an intelligent study of his fellow-players and be thor- 
oughly familiar with their capabilities and their peculiarities. 
When a fast play is started there is no time for explanations 
either by word or sign, and every man who takes part in it must 
know as well what the others will do as what he will do him- 
self, and be governed accordingly. The number of possible plays 
on the ball field is not extraordinarily large, but the number of 
ways of making them is almost infinite. 

"It follows, then, that the second-baseman must at least be 
as fast on his feet and as quick a player as any other player. 
Besides having a knowledge of his fellow-players, he must be 
acquainted with his opponents so as to resort to the style of play 
most successful against them. Tricks which will work against 
one team fall flat when tried on another, and the way in which 
any play should be made must be decided by the circumstances 
of the moment. 

"Suppose, for example, there is a man on third and the ball is 
Int to me, but in such a way that I am obliged to run for it, 
either forward or sideways. If two men are not out, I should 
try. the ball being a ground hit, to catch the man at the plate, 
if there is a possible chance. Suppose, also, that the man who 
hit the ball is very fast, I must watch the ball, so as to be sure 
to get it, and, as I cannot watch the runners too, must make up 
my mind before I get it where I will throw it. To do the right 
thing, I must know how fast the runner at third is and how much 
of a lead he had when the ball was hit. I must consider how 
long it will take to get the ball to the catcher and how skillful 
the latter is in blocking off base-runners in a pinch. The stand- 
ing of the score and the time must be weighed. If the scoring 
of a run by the opposition insures their winning the game, the 
play at the plate is the only one worth trying, whether there 
appears to be a chance of success or not. But if the game is 
young and I was sure the man at third would score, I would not 
hesitate to make sure of the man at first. The shortstop must 
back up third base like the second-baseman backs up first, play 
short left and middle field, and sometimes go out into foul ground 
for flies that neither the third-baseman nor the left fielder can 
get under. lie must guard second base when that dutv falls to 




1, Lundgren : 2. Reulbach ; 3, Pfeister ; 4, Browii. 
A GROUP OF CHICAGO NATIONALS. 



SPALDING'S ATHLETIC LIBRARY. 45 

him, help the pitcher to keep base-runners hugging the sack and 
watch the returns of the ball from the catcher to the pitcher. 
He must make the same close study of opposing batsmen and the 
base-runners that other players must make, and be guided by 
what he can learn. He cannot pick out a level spot and stand 
there all afternoon expecting the ball to come to him. Like the 
business man who wants trade, he must get out after it and 
change his position for every man who comes to bat. 

"While there is nothing certain about anything in Base Ball, 
random infield work is as bad as random pitching. The infielder 
should never make a move that does not mean something and 
represent a definite end. He should adopt the course dictated by 
his best judgment and then follow it out until there is a reason 
for making a change. He will not always be successful, but he 
must not be discouraged if the unexpected happens. 

"One of the problems for the third-baseman is the batter who 
can both lay the ball down and line it out. If he plays back too 
far the latter will invariably bunt. H he gets too far in, he is 
likely to have to face a hard drive, which will sorely test his 
courage first, and probably his endurance afterward. In the 
course of a season every third-baseman makes a number of fine 
stops which would not have been made if he could have gotten 
his body out of the way in time. The best plan to pursue in 
such cases, in my opinion, is to take a middle course. Keep 
back close to the line running from second to third and six or 
eight feet from the foul line, the latter depending to some ex- 
tent both on the batter and the pitcher. Then, every time the 
pitcher delivers the ball, get on your tiptoes and be prepared to 
move instantly in any direction. Keep your eye on the batter, and 
if he is going to bunt you can discover his intention in time to 
be half way in to the plate, if you are fast on your feet, before 
the ball leaves his bat. If, on the other hand, you see he is about 
to swing hard on the ball, you can summon your powers of resist- 
ing the shock of a speedy drive. 

''AH this sounds, perhaps, as if third base were the only posi- 
tion in the field and that all balls are knocked to the third-base- 
man. That is exactly my idea of how every player should feel 
during the game. He should always be expecting the ball to 
hit him, always be ready to receive it, and always have his mind 
made up as to what he will do with it when it does come. 

"Besides the foregoing, the third-baseman must be able to line 
the ball across the field swiftly and accurately. With the fast 
men of to-day 'arching' the ball over won't do. It must go on 
a line, and no time can be wasted in starting it. Like the first- 
baseman, the third-baseman has a large number of foul flies to 
look after, and to get them, as he should, fleetness of foot is 




FRANK L. CHANCE, 
Chicago National League Club, World's Champions. 



Sl'Al.lt|N<;s Al lll.i;i-if Ml'.KAltV. 41 

in(lisi)ensal)lc. lie niusl also know wlnU to do willi llic ball 
after it is caught, and not let base-runners lake advantage of 
such plays to advance. He should back up other positions when- 
ev^er possible and never overlook an opportunity to do anything 
that will benefit his team. 

"Two faults many young infielders (and some old ones, too) 
have are trying to throw the ball before they get it and losing 
their heads after making an error. The first is due to nervous- 
ness or over-anxiet}^ and requires constant effort and perhaps 
some coaching to overcome. Whatever eft'ort is needed, this 
must be done, for nothing so interferes with heady, successful 
work as nervousness. As to errors, they are inseparable from 
infield work. If the field were a floor, the bound of every ground 
ball could be determined exactly and the play be made with 
machine-like precision. As it is, a pebble, a tuft of grass or an 
inequality in the ground deflects the ball just when you are set 
for it, and it comes just where you were not expecting it and 
don't want it. You do your best to get it and often succeed, only 
to make a bad throw, because 3'ou are thrown out of position 
1)\- the extra effort and the time is too short to take a brace before 
tlirowing. At other times you either miss the liall altogether or 
are unable to move your hand fast enough to do more than 
knock it down, and, as a result, get an error for Avhat appeared 
to all but yourself an easy chance. The infielder must never 
let such things affect him. He must forget them at soon as they 
arc past and go on as if nothing had happened. Go after every- 
thing, no matter how impossible it seems to you as well as every- 
body else. Once in a while it will take a Lucky bound into your 
hand, and if you don't let your surprise prevent you from taking 
advantage of the circumstances, you will probably be hailed as 
'the greatest ever' — until you make your next error. 

"Neither the manager nor the captain can win unless they have 
the co-operation of the players. To be successful the captain's 
efforts must at all times be reinforced and backed up by a good 
bunch of hustlers. He must infuse into his men, if they do not 
have it naturally, enthusiasm for their work and a do-or-die 
spirit. Lots of good players are naturally very quiet. They know 
what to do themselves, but cannot direct others not so well 
posted. Such men must be encouraged and advantage taken oi 
their special abilities. The captain must welcome their aid and 
show that he appreciates it." 




HUGH A. JENNINGS. 
The Detroits' manager, uttering his famous "E-yah," on the coaching line. 

In explanation of the origin of the term "E-yah," which caused so much 
comment in 1907, Manager Jennings said: "I iised to say, 'That's theAvay!' 
Then I found that it was too dull and tiresome. I wanted something with 
snap and go to it. So changed it to 'That's the way— ah!' From this I 
changed it to jiist 'the way— ah.' Finally I found I was just yelling 'E-yah.' " 



SPALDING'S ATHLETIC LIBRARY. 



PLAYING THE OUTFIELD 

No weak batsman should be worked in the outfield. More 
than one-half of the outfielders in the big leagues are left-hand 
hitters, while over two-thirds of the men are right-hand throwers. 

I would play the speediest man in center field and the slowest 
runner in left field. 

Fielders should work with signs and know just what the pitcher 
is to give the batsman, as this will enable him to be on the move 
in the right direction and often make catches that seemed im- 
possible when the ball was hit. 

Outfielders should never hold the ball a second, but cut it for 
the infield at once and give no chance to the base-runner to take 
advantage of slow work. 

Outfielders should practice taking the ball in a position to 
throw, and learn how to take a ball after a long run and turn. 

Outfielders should study the different batsmen closely. They 
should have an understanding with the infielders, as well as the 
players in the outfield. Once a player sings out "I have it," he 
should pay no attention to the other players, who should simply 
back up the man who first called out. 

The right fielder gets more flies out of his position and more 
fouls than does the left fielder. 

The right fielder must be ready to back up second base when- 
ever possible, and he must be ready to back up first base every 
time a throw is made to that sack from any of the infielders or 
from the catcher. 

There is a great chance for the young man with the quick- 
throwing to make a reputation for himself in right field. Many 
opportunities come to the right fielder to make unusual throws. 
I have seen many a fast base-runner thrown out at first base 
on what looked like a hit to the right field. 

That was accomplished because the right fielder was alert and 
ready to dash in to meet the ground ball as close to the base 
lines as possible. 

The right fielder must be sure on ground balls. If there is any 
chance at all to get the runner at first after he makes what looks 
to be a hit the outfielder should be able to improve every oppor- 
tunity. 

The right fielder, like the center fielder and the left fielder, 
should be an excellent judge of all batters. After seeing a man 




1— Joe Mc(;innit\, tilt' "Iron M;iii." 2— Lutlier Taylor. ;]— Leon Ames. 
4— George Wiltse. 

A GROUP OF NEW YORK PITCHERS. 

Photos by Pictorifil News Co. and Hedley, New York. 



SPALDING'S ATHLETIC LIBRARY. 51 

bat once he should know whether he is likely to hit in his di- 
rection. 

The right "fielder should also be ready for every batter who 
comes to the plate. There is no way to tell when a man who 
nearly always hits toward the left is going to tear one toward the 
right field. 

The center fielder and the right fielder should have a signal 
fixed with the second baseman so that individual may be able 
to tell which one of the players is to take a fly that falls between 
them. Collisions may thus be avoided. 

When the second-baseman calls out the name of the outfielder 
who is to lake the fly the other should stop on the instant and 
not insist upon taking it anyway. 

Only experience can tell the right fielder which way this or 
that batter is going to hit. This experience may be gained by 
himself in a few games, for he should always know where each 
batter usually hits. 

The right fielder should never go into a game without prac- 
ticing in his position. This is so he may become familiar with the 
grounds and with the direction and velocity of the wind. The 
wind is an important factor in all outfield playing. Unless the 
outfielder knows how it is blowing he is likely to be fooled badly 
the first time some batter knocks a fly toward him. 

Quick starting has much to do with success in getting to where 
the ball is. In order to be able to start quickly the outfielder 
must have a judgment so keen that it will tell him almost the 
square inch where the ball will fall. 

In playing the outfield, if Harry Bay, Keeler or Flick hap- 
pened to be on second base and a base hit was made to me and 
I fumbled the ball, there would be no use throwing to the plate to 
shut them ofl^, unless the pitcher or catcher should be wise enough 
to intercept the throw to catch the batsman should he try to go 
down to second on the throw in. With a slow runner on second, 
should you fumble the ball in the outfield, the chances are you 
could get your man at the plate on a good throw, but the main 
thing is to have the play figured out before you make it, then 
}0U can't go wrong. 




1. Evers ; 2, Kling ; 3. Steinfeldt. 
A GROUP OF CHICAGO NATIONALS, 



SPALDING'S ATHLETIC LIBRARY. 53 



THE FINE ART OF BATTING 

Batting is the one department of Base Ball where a boy or 
man must have a natural talent to make good. 

I have known of cases where a very ordinary batsman finished 
a season with a top-notch batting average, but the same player 
was sure to fall off the next season. 

The old saying that batsmen are born and not made comes very 
near being correct, although any player can improve by faithful 
practice and intelligent thought on the subject. 

Each player will have his own style at the plate, finding it 
easy to fall into some style unconsciously. He should be allowed 
to continue in this style unless there should be a semblance of 
pulling away from the plate, for only the aggressive batsman 
reach the top of his profession. 

It is a rare thing nowadays to see any man outside the battery 
players pull away from the plate. Once a pitcher notes this 
weakness he has his man at all times if he is careful. 

The preliminary swing of the pitcher is often likely to bother 
the timid batsman, for he will often lose track of the ball. The 
batsman should pay little attention to the pitcher until about the 
last move before sending the ball to the plate, when being ever- 
ready and in a natural position he can follow the course of the 
ball. 

I fully believe that all men can bat to better advantage while 
gripping the bat up short. 

All pitchers try to get a line on the batsman by noting their 
footwork and general attitude at the plate. 

"Cy'' Seymour says : ''Know your pitchers and keep close tab 
on the position of the fielders. I ascribe a large portion of my 
showing to the hit-and-run game. 

"I would give the runner on first base his signal for a steal 
and then aim to hit the ball through the shortstop's or second- 
baseman's position, according as the one or the other left it 
open to cover the bag and catch the runnci. 

"For that very reason I rarely or never seek to run forward 
past the plate and meet the ball before the curve breaks. By 
playing as far back of the plate as possible I get that much more 
time to be sure which infielder is going to cover second base. 
A large proportion of my base hits were made in this way . 



54 SPALDING'S ATHLETIC LIBRARY. 

"Then, again, I am not particular about using any special bat. 
For a pitcher who serves slow ones and uses his head I use 
a lighter bat, but when a pitcher relies mainly on speed I find a 
heavy bat more serviceable. 

"I don't grasp the bat at the end, because I find I can control 
it better and meet the ball more accurately by holding the bat 
a few inches from the end. Being able to place the ball in the 
various outfields helps a whole lot, for the fielders then are 
puzzled where to lay for you. And yet some good hitters, like 
Roy Thomas, almost always hit to the same field. 

'Tt's a mistake to try and slam the ball all your might. Hit it 
a good, solid lick, but you can do better inside work if you don't 
try to rip the cover off every time you swing at it." 

Seymour, like most batsmen, can be helped out by a good man 
ahead of them on the batting list, as a clever base-runner will 
keep the pitcher guessing and also keep the basemen on the 
alert, thereby creating more openings for safe hits through the 
infield. 

Slugging is of very little account under the advice of Mr. 
Seymour. 

I consider Clarence Beaumont one of the most scientific bats- 
men in the profession. Read what he says about getting out 
of form : 

"Good batters are often asked why it is that they occasionally 
have slumps during which they go for days without hitting 
safely. All of them meet with this experience at times. In my 
own case, which I suppose is largely the same with other players, 
the trouble comes from what we call getting out of stride. In 
hitting the ball, all good batters take a step forward. This 
step is called the stride. My stride is about eighteen inches. 
Suppose I unconsciously increase this stride to two feet. This 
looks like a small matter, but m reality the additional six inches 
causes me to lower my bat a trifle, with the result that I hit 
under the center of the ball, which sends it up in the air instead 
of out on a line as I intend. The eye has nothing to do with this. 
It is simply a habit which comes on the player before he is 
aware that he has contracted it. The remedy lies not in trying 
to accustom yourself to the new stride, for that you probably 
could never do successfully, but in getting back your old step. 
Constant practice is the only means of doing this, and it has 
sometimes taken me three weeks to overcome the trouble." 

Beaumont might go farther and say a batsman will often lose 
his best preliminary swing and come to the ball out of form to 
see it soar into the air when he has aimed at the dead center. 

Some good batsmen never take any preliminary swing, depend- 
ing wholly on footwork, while a number of batsmen take the 



SPALDING'S ATHLETIC LIBRARY. 55 

bat at the extreme end and take a long swing, usually cutting a 
triangle before swinging for the coming-in ball. Nothing is 
more graceful, but the timing of the swing must be absolutely 
perfect to win out, and a clever pitcher will be quick to see his 
advantage. 

Don't be afraid of the pitcher. It is easy to avoid being hit 
by a fast one and slow ones never injure any one. 

Men have been hit by pitched balls as the result of the pitcher 
sending in just the ball not expected after the batsman had 
figured that he was posted. A good bit of advice from a leading 
player is worth quoting. He says : 

"To the young player I would say : 'Don't get in the habit of 
planting your feet on the ground and not moving them until you 
have swung at the ball. Get a stride and advance a little toward 
the ball as you hit. Do not step too far and accustom your eyes 
and hands to the change such a step makes. Learn to hit squarely 
every ball that passes over any part of the plate between the 
knee and shoulder, and devote the most practice to what you 
are weakest on. Learn to think and act quickly and to keep your 
head at all tim.es. I.n a contest, do not always do the same 
thing under the same circumstances. Give your opponent a sur- 
prise whenever possible." 

The above advice is well worth considering by the old player 
as well as the youngster. Step up and meet the ball ; it puts the 
pitcher on the defence and makes the other players feel they have 
a game player to handle, and nerve is half the battle in Base Ball. 

Always go to the plate to hit that ball in the center, no matter 
who the pitcher may be, for all can be found, as they must get the 
ball over that rubber 17 inches wide. 

Another good "sticker" says : 

"If I were facing a pitcher who depended mainly on speed, 
I would stand at the back of the batter's box, so as to have the 
advantage of the additional distance. I would do this, particu- 
larly if I wished to hit toward third base. But if the same pitcher 
had a good drop ball I would stand at the front of the box so as 
to be able to catch the ball before the break. If the batter has 
a weakness and the pitcher is taking advantage of it, the former 
must use his judgment and cunning." 

The above is intended for left-hand batsmen and is sound and 
well worth heeding. 

Practice and confidence will make a batsman, and he must 
practice continually to do his best work, and practice against 
good pitching. Therefore, Prarf/ci?/ Practice!! PRACTICE!!! 
until you know your own speed, and then keep on practicing with 
the stick. 



56 SPALDING'S ATHLETIC LIBRARY. 



THE ART OF BASE-RUNNING 

Head work counts just as much as fleetness of foot after a 
player reaches first base, and nothing will bother a pitcher any 
more than to know a clever man is ever ready to make a break 
for an extra base. It bothers the boxman much more than the 
man at bat, and for this reason pitchers usually pitch their poorest 
games against a lot of fine base-runners. 

Once a player reaches first base it should be his aim to keep 
the battery guessing as to what move he intends to make. Tak- 
ing a lead off first should be the study of every ball player, and 
no man can expect to bother the pitcher or ever steal a base if 
he has failed to improve his many opportunities to take the proper 
lead off the three bases, for the lead means everything on the 
bases, as a start means success in making a play in the field. 
Every man that reached first base should be taught the funda- 
mental principles of base-running, including sliding to bases, as 
well as reaching the base from several feet away. Players allow 
the particular men who make a specialty of this department to 
have it all their own way, when every man should make the try. 

It should be a part of the early spring work, for there is 
nothing more disagreeable to clever ball players than to see some 
of their own men "wedded to the bags," as they say, or failing 
to take the proper ground off the bases, when runs are valuable 
and the opposition is primed to take advantage of a dead one 
on the bases. 

Players should practice starts from first in the spring and 
at other times when the opportunity affords. There is no danger 
of being caught while the pitcher stands with the ball in his 
left hand when pitching with his right. A running lead and 
quick return under these conditions will bother the players and 
in the general mixup the runner is more apt to call the turn and 
get the proper lead for second. Even if the runner never intends 
to go, he keeps his opponent's attention off the man at the bat 
and the runner has the advantage of changing to a hit-and-run 
game. 

The base-runner should have a perfect code of signals with 
the next batsman to know just when to tip off, and what action 
to take when the ball is pitched. Certainly the battery will keep 
up a deep thinking part and will often call the turn, but that is 



SPALDING'S ATHLETIC LIBRARY. 57 

in the game, and the quickest thinker and best executer will land 
the money in the long run. 

Any ball player should know how to make the different slides. 
The feet-first slide leaves a runner in a position to regain his 
feet and be off for the next base if the ball is thrown wide, but 
the most difficult slide to block off is the wide head-first slide 
where the player reaches back and finds the base. 

Taking two bases on a ground ball to right or center field 
should be accomplished three out of four times if the runner 
is on the alert against nine-tenths of the outfielders. 

Don't watch the ball, and pay no attention to anything but the 
base. Don't turn your head to look either sideways or behind, 
as it is bound to result in loss of speed; and he shouldn't slide 
unless his pants are properly padded. 

When you have got away you must judge the man on the sack, 
know how he stands and which way he turns. There is a way of 
twisting the body when you are going into the bag that brings 
you in feet first. Many times the man with the ball is there as 
soon as you are, but when he is ready to tag you, that twist ^yill 
get a man out of danger. Some men have a habit of sliding 
to base head first, and some go in with their feet ahead of their 
body, but the way a man can duck and dodge, the twist I spoke 
of will save a speedy runner. Speed, judgment and ability to 
duck— these are the qualities that go to make up a successful 
base-stealer. 

Let a good base-runner get to first base at a critical juncture, 
and if the previous proceedings have been dull and lifeless, action 
is at once instilled into the game. The pitcher becomes anxious. 
A good base-runner will bother him and handicap him in his 
work. The pitcher will often work harder for the man on the 
base than he will for the batter, giving the latter a big advan- 
tage. The catcher knows the slightest slips he may make will 
be taken advantage of, and the infielders know that they will 
have to work fast and sure to foil the runner, and at the same 
time be prepared to handle infield hits. 

All this keys up the spectators to a high pitch, and causes 
them to watch every play with strict attention. The spectacular 
features of base-running have always been recognized. The start, 
a fielder's cry of "There he goes !" the throw, the cloud of dust 
and the close decision combine to make the play one of the most 
fascinating of the game. 

Men like Stovey, Welsh, Ewing, Latham, Ward, Fogarty and 
Kelly never knew what it was to stand anchored on the initial 
bag and wait for a bunt or a hit-and-run signal. For them 
there was a moment's jockeying along the line, a sharp skirmish 
of wits and quickness, with the pitcher and first baseman, and 



58 SPALDING'S ATHLETIC LIBRARY. 

then a streak of light going down to second, a slide, a cloud of 
dust, and a frantic yell from the delighted crowd. 

"The big mitt stopped the runners," said Dick Buckley, re- 
cently. How? Well, get a glove of the type used by catchers 
up to 1889, get a modern padded mitten, have somebody throw 
you a ball and it will all dawn on you in a second. When the 
old pitchers, firing from short distance and yet hurling them 
across with all their steam, sent them - into the thin-palmed, 
finger-tipped glove of those days, the catcher always, and in- 
stinctively, drew back his hands as the bullet struck into the 
frail protection. Suppose a base-runner was under way, the 
catcher disengaged the ball from the glove and shot it down as 
fast as he knew how. After the big mitt arrived, the whole 
method of taking the pitch changed immediately. The catcher 
soon found that he could take the full shock of the fastest de- 
livery in the great paw and that he did not have to draw back 
his hands. What did this mean to the base-runner and to the 
catcher's chance of trapping him ! Only this — that the catcher, 
able to get the ball out of the big glove and ready for the throw 
in speedier time than when he wore the little glove, had just 
that much margin on the runner. And bases are made or lost by 
fractions of a second." 

The player on second should give the runner on first the sign 
that he intends to steal. This will enable the man on first to 
prepare for a double steal. It is practically impossible to make 
a double play in this case, and in the event of the first runner 
being caught at third there will be very little harm done, as the 
second base will still be occupied. 

With one man out it is always good policy to take chances in 
stealing third base, though, as it has already been pointed out, 
before attempting to steal, the player should be certain of a 
good start. He could then score on a long f\y to the outfield. 

In a close game, where hitting is light, a player should take 
more than ordinary chances on the bases. A wild throw or a 
dropped ball by a baseman will give the runner the chance he 
may be watching for. No play can be cut and dried on the 
diamond, and the runners must be prepared for any emergency, 
ready to take advantage of any weakness on the part of their 
opponents, and sacrifice individual efforts for team work. 

Connie Mack gives a valuable hint on base-running. Most 
base-runners touch the bags with the right foot. Mack's idea 
is to touch with the left foot, because you can keep the turn 
shorter that way. Mack's theory is the correct one. The distance 
around the bases, actual measurement, is 120 yards, but in mak- 
ing the circuit a runner will cover at least 128 yards, 



SPALDING'S ATHLETIC LIBRARl*. S§ 

There is nothing that will discourage one team and please 
another more than dumb base-running. It is far better to hold 
your base until batted around than to run the bases without 
judgment. ■ 

As an example of this I will point to a play that took place 
in one of the games for the world's championship at Chicago in 
1906. Rohe was on third base, with one out, when Dougherty 
drove a fierce liner to deep right center that Schulte made a 
clever catch of and threw home in time to get Rohe at the 
plate. Thinking the ball was hit safely, Rohe started for home. 
Seeing that the ball was caught he returned to third, touched 
the base, and again started for home, to be disposed of. When 
he saw the ball hit to the outfield he should have returned with 
all haste to the base and been ready to start for home the in- 
stant the ball hit the fielder's hands. Had the ball been safe 
it was an easy matter to come in. If the ball was muffed it 
was also an easy matter. While if the ball was caught he could 
have beaten the throw home. Therefore, by dumb base-running, 
he lost one run and displayed the weakest kind of Base Ball. 
No brainy ball player could possibly have made this wicked 
blunder. 

There never was a good excuse offered for running another 
base-runner down. The base-runner must keep his eyes open, 
and look ahead. Some ordinary runners become expert base- 
runners by using good judgment, while some of the finest 
sprinters, lacking the temperament, fall easy prey to their oppo- 
nents, especially to clever catchers, and are noted for their dumb 
work on the base paths. 

Base-running is one department of the game that has not ad- 
vanced during the last twenty years, and the game is the loser, 
for there is no more picturesque feature than a team of "inside" 
base-runners in action. 



SPALDING'S ATHLETIC LIBRARl?. 



THE SQUEEZE PLAY 

This is the most up-to-date play used in Base Ball at the 
present time and a valuable addition to the science of the sport. 

The play is tried only with one out and a man at third base. 
The base-runner starts for home with the first preliminary swing 
of the pitcher's arm and tries for the plate, just as if making 
a steal. The batsman is supposed to meet the ball without 
any attempt for a hard drive, simply keeping the ball on the 
ground. If the ball is placed anywhere in fair territory there 
is no chance to get the runner going home ; in fact, run- 
ners often score when the ball is pitched too wide for the bats- 
man to meet it. Then the catcher is apt to drop the ball in his 
hurry. The play is seldom attempted unless the batsman is a good 
hunter. Then, too, it is not a good thing to try the play when 
the pitcher is laying for you, as he will keep the ball high and 
close to the batsman and nip the man coming home. 

In close-score games the play is always favorably considered, 
and it is the unexpected that mystifies your opponent and rattles 
many a player. 

The slowest runner can make the play from third, as it all 
depends on the man at bat to meet the ball and keep it on the 
ground. 

In the number of times that I saw it tried last season, with 
the major league teams it was successful one-half the time, 
which was a percentage in favor of the play. But, like all moves 
in Base Ball, it requires good judgment in picking out the time 
to work the combination. When made, it has a demoralizing 
effect on the team who allowed it. while a failure has the same 
effect on the team to try it. No ball team, however, should be 
without the knowledge of the play, as well as a defence when 
others are apt to make the move. 



SPALDING'S ATHLETIC LIBRARY. 61 



THE DELAYED STEAL 

The delayed steal was worked last season as never before, 
until with several teams base-running became one of the most 
important parts of the game, and it required a clever catcher to 
stop it even with sharp, accurate throwing. Ever on the alert, 
the runner would take the limit of ground off first. A throw 
to first would see him off for second, where he would beat the 
throw five times out of six. Then, again, the runner would 
hold his ground until the catcher had started the ball back to 
the pitcher, when he would dart for second. As the second- 
baseman and shortstop were playing wide and deep, it was a 
race for the base with the pitcher hesitating as to who would 
take the ball, with the chances all in favor of the runner landing 
safe. This play was also tried — and successfully — with a man 
on third, the runner making home as the ball was thrown to 
second base. The delay in starting was sure to throw off the 
men who were picked to take the ball and while the basemen 
were sizing up the situation the base-runners were making 
ground on either or both ends of the play. 

A wideawake lot of players on the bases, willing to take a 
chance, will defeat a team of sluggers in a season's play. Base- 
running is the purest science of the game and the most pic- 
turesque department. The double steal, the delayed steal, and 
the steal when the hitting is light, is a hard game to beat, and 
especially so if the throwing is not above the average. 

With base-runners for opponents the strongest teams will have 
to keep a sharp lookout, for a fine base-runner is more dreaded 
when he comes to the bat, than the heaviest slugger in the 
business. Base-running has been overlooked by too many Base 
Ball managers of the present time. 



62 SPALDING'S ATHLETIC LIBRARY. 



THE ART OF THROWING 

A left-hand thrower is handicapped and should never attempt 
to play outside first base and the outfield. 

1 here was a time not long ago when overhand throwing was 
considered the proper style to cultivate. Now a player must be 
fit to throw underhanded, and even toss the ball backhanded, as 
well as to scoop the ball when there is no time for getting into 
a position to make a throw. 

When making a proper throw the hand should follow the ball. 
Snap throwing is a rare accomplishment and must be cultivated, 
while shoulder throwing is a big handicap to a ball player, as 
he is sure to lose time. The wrist, elbow and shoulder can all be 
used in making the ideal throw. The wrist and elbow properly 
developed will produce the best getaway throw, and should be 
practiced, particularly by outfielders. 

Left-handed throwing outfielders are impossibilities when 
forced to use the shoulder to get the ball away. It is a case of 
''winding up," to see the base-runners beating the throw nine 
out of ten times. 

In the outfield the players should practice continually to get 
the ball away, allowing the infielders to make plays from shorter 
distances. 

A clever man will swing into position to receive a ball before 
making a hard throw. No man can throw hard and accurately 
without taking a step forward before letting the ball go. One 
c£ the finest throv»'ers 1 ever saw was a young player with a 
lame shoulder who developed a wrist throw that was marvelous 
for speed and accuracy. 

Edward Crane, the greatest thrower for long distance the 
game has produced, never used his shoulder, when making a 
throw. In fact, the long distance throwers have never been 
what is known as shoulder throwers. About the only fine 
throwing catchers who used the shoulder have been Charley 
Bennett and Lou Criger, while the great catchers, Kling, Kelly, 
Ewing, Snyder, Sullivan, Clapp, Bergen and other good ones, 
were wrist throwers and danced the ball away like a flash. 



SPALDING'S ATHLETIC LIBRARY. 



THE USE OF SIGNALS 

It would be impossible to play up-to-date Base Ball without 
a variety of signals, well understood by eaeh member of the 
team. 

It was only a few years ago when the battery alone used 
signals ; now every man on the team should know the style of 
ball the pitcher is about to deliver, and whether it will go close 
to the batsman or a little wide of the player. The fielders will 
then have a chance to be on the move in the right direction nine 
times out of ten — a winning percentage. Charley Snyder was 
the cleverest catcher the game has produced, when it came to 
signal work. He never allowed his pitcher to look towards a 
base, unless when throwing the ball. Snyder would give the 
signal to the pitcher in position to deliver the ball, but never 
until he had sized up the base-runner and had him working back 
to a base. Pitchers are apt to give too much attention to the 
base-runner and weaken their chances to get the man at bat. 
Snyder avoided this condition, and had his pitchers always in a 
position to let the ball go the instant that he gave the signal. 

In throwing to first and third, to get a man napping, Snyder 
would give the signal one ball before he was to take the chance, 
giving lime for all to be on the alert to. back up. 

The game has grown so full of moves that a clever man 
handling a team from the bench will be kept very busy, and 
must know the signals as well as the players. Managers should 
not labor under the impression that signals will avail if the ball 
players are absent. It takes clever men to work with the slight 
inoves, and suggestions necessary for team work, for open signal 
work is very easily detected by your opponent, who will in- 
stantly turn his knowledge to his own advantage. 

Signals, however, are positively necessary for a team's success 
in up-to-date Base Ball when team work is called for. 



64 SPALDING'S ATHLETIC LIBRARY. 



SHORT TALKS ON A VARIETY OF BASE 
BALL TOPICS 

BASE BALL GROUNDS. 

There is nothing more pleasing to the eye of a ball player 
than a fine ball park, with a level surface well kept. 

Skin diamonds will do where nothing better can be found, but 
Base Ball must be played on a turf diamond to bring out all the 
beauties of the game. 

Some of the oldest ball clubs in this country are even to-day 
content with second and third-class infields, handicapping the 
work of the players, and forcing the patrons of the sport to 
witness many misplays, due wholly to the rough surface. 

The infielders must make plays on the dead run, and being 
often forced to time a ball between bounds, depend fully on the 
grounds being as smooth as a billiard table, as the least thing 
will throw a ball out of its true course, and only the real 
phenomenons can play grounders on a rough surface. Here and 
there you will discover a player who will trap a ball between 
bounds in such a way that a rough surface is overcome. The 
average player, however, must have a smooth surface or show 
up badly at times. Nearly all of the hard drives to short and 
second are picked up on unturfed grounds, first and third alone 
being forced to face the hot shot as the ball comes off the grass. 

Nine-tenths of the m.isplays made in the outfield on ground 
balls are the fault of the ground not being properly leveled and 
cared for. With the large receipts from the big games, every 
major league club in particular, and all professional clubs in 
general, should furnish a level surface for the game, and have 
the same kept in order, so that the players will be responsible 
for only the actual mistakes they make. Perfect ball grounds 
will improve the game twenty-five per cent, and be appreciated 
by the followers of the great sport. To roll true, a ball must 
have an even surface, and the more perfect the ball rolls the 
more ground will the players cover and the more speed attained 
for the pleasure of the spectator. 



SPALDING'S ATHLETIC LIBRARY. 65 

PRELIMINARY TRAINING OF PLAYERS. 

The major league teams go south for early practice while the 
minor league teams must work out at the home grounds. This 
is not so "bad where the small leagues start the season quite 
late. The college teams usually work out in the gyms and cages 
before taking to the open fields. 

I have gone south with a Boston team now for seventeen 
straight years in the early spring, and made careful notes of 
the work done by the players. Manager Frank Selee was in 
charge of the team a number of years, and I believe he was the 
very best trainer that I have known and brought his men to 
the startmg line in the best condition. 

The very first thing that Manager Selee did was to put each 
man on the scales and get his weight. He would look out for 
the men's diet and at the close of each week, weigh the men 
once more. In this way he knew just what work to map out 
for each player and then saw that his orders were carried out. 

The great danger in the spring is sore arms, and the greatest 
care should be taken in this line of work ; in fact, men should 
not be allowed to throw the ball around the diamond until a 
week's training, and then only with great care. 

The players should first jog about the bases until all soreness 
has gone, when they should practice sprinting, and give a great 
deal of time to starting and turning the bases. 

Pitchers should work daily for weeks before attempting to 
let out, and the catchers should be more cautious than the other 
players when throwing the ball. 

When the men are in shape then extra speed should be tried 
for and the development of team work practiced constantly until 
the men could make the play blindfolded, figuratively speaking. 

The young pitchers should do the bulk of the box work in the 
cool spring weather, as the older pitchers should be allowed 
their own time to come to the line, as they know best when they 
are in winning form, and all love to work when on edge for a 
good performance. 

When ready for practice, keep a pitcher in the box to bat 
against, and spend at least one-half of the time in bunting and 
place hitting. No player ever got too much batting practice. It 
isn't necessary to smash away at the ball smiply to get your 
stick against the leather, and don't wait for balls to be sent you 
in a groove. Nine men out of ten who are successful m bunt- 
ing the ball, or placing a pitched ball, grip the bat up short, as 
they have a better control, and more likely to meet the ball. 
Infielders should work with all the speed possible in practice, 
as this will show to advantage when in the games later on. 



66 SPALDING'S ATHLETIC LIBRARY. 

Distances must be so well gauged that a player could make the 
play blindfolded, and this is brought about by speed practice. 

I think one of the worst features about spring training is the 
way managers run their players to and from the ball parks, 
mostly through the paved streets of cities. The proper way 
would he to take the men to the ball parks in conveyances, and 
after giving them all the work they could stand, bring the tired 
men home the same way. After a hard practice a long walk or 
run to the hotel leaves the player in weak condition and all 
desire for speed vanished. The ball field is the place to train a 
ball player. 

The minor league players, handicapped by weather conditions, 
must be brought to the line by slow stages. Their one advan- 
tage is youth and players can stand most any kind of weather 
until they have encountered lame arms or strains of any kind. 

College men take too much work in cages and gyms. The 
batting practice is absolutely injurious and the only good may 
be a development of pitchers and base-running, and the chances 
are_ that all players are starting under a handicap when they do 
their preliminary work indoors. Professional players have come 
to the conclusion that reading at night or on the ' cars is in- 
jurious to the eyes and therefore should be avoided as much as 
possible by the fraternity. This is one reason that college men 
soon drop out of the business on account of weak stickwork, for 
eyesight is everything when it comes to hitting cleverly pitched 
balls. 

NERVE COUNTS IN BASE BALL. 

One of the most essential ingredients to a winning player's 
makeup is nerve. Without a strong nerve a ball player has 
little chance of winning a place among the stars of the profes- 
sion. Although several have shown to good advantage as 
players, yet a lack of nerve at the time when it required staying 
prowess lost for these men the wholesome respect of the Base 
Ball fraternity, who admire nerve, perhaps more than brilliant 
playing qualities. 

A player who will become rattled is an easy man to beat out, 
but just as soon as the discovery is made that a player has the 
nerve to go the distance, he is then passed up as one to be left 
alone. On the other hand, let it be whispered about that a 
player lacks nerve, and he is sure to become a mark for his 
opponents, who will bother him in many ways and keep his 
attention off his work. 

Men strengthen their nerves by playing together; often weak- 
hearted players will brace when blended with a nervy bunch, as 



SPALDING'S ATHLETIC LIBRARY. 67 

the latter will see the advantage of encouraging their fellow- 
workmen, who has the ability, but not the fire, to be effective 
under trying situations. 

Some ball players fairly shine when the situation is critical, 
and extra fine work is called for. They become cool under fire 
and plan their defence like magic. They have strong nerves and 
hearts that beat with the regulation of an old hall clock. 
Matched against this brand of ball player, what chance has a 
nian with a fluttering heart and a nerve affected by every pass- 
ing cloud ? 

To keep the nerve keyed up to its proper strength ball players 
must take care of their systems, by avoiding all dissipation, and 
not live the strenuous life. Those who start without the real 
nerve can never be expected to develop the favor, although as- 
sociation with the real thing will help considerably. 



PLAYERS SHOULD KNOW THE PLAYING RULES. 

It can be set down for a positive fact that less than one-half 
the professional ball players fully understand the playing rules. 

Only a small majority of the ball players make any study of 
the rules, and are ever at a loss to explain complicated plays 
and show surprise at the umpire's findings. 

Usually all is left to the captain of the team, who is supposed 
to read up on the new rules each season and teach the men 
before the regular games begin. 

The wise player will carefully read the rules and become 
thoroughly posted at all times, protecting his own game, and 
showing that he takes an interest in his business. 

I have seen hundreds of men apply for umpire berths and 
felt competent to make good, until they were asked three or 
four off-hand questions, when they were forced to admit they 
had not learned their lesson before applying for the place. 

I never knew but one man who could explain the meaning of 
every rule in the Spalding Official Guide, and that was the late 
Harry Wright, who was absolutely letter perfect, and always 
willing to teach all comers. Base Ball was a deep study with 
Mr. Wright and each spring he would hand each of his players 
a book of rules and expect each man to read carefully, and be 
prepared to answer any question that he might ask. By this 
system the players under Mr. Wright were always far ahead of 
the fraternity, and won many points by their better knowledge 
of the game. , , i j i 

The late Robert Ferguson was a natural rule maker, and al- 
ways advised umpires to consider "fair play" when in doubt 



SPALDING'S ATHLETIC LIBRARY. 



about a rule. Ferguson contended that the umpire alone could 
make ground rules, as tliere was no provision in the Guide 
until "fair play" and Ferguson's rules became synonymous. 
Players should learn the rules. 



COLLIDING ON THE BALL FIELD. 

Team mates colliding on a ball field during a game is wholly 
unnecessary, and yet many games have been lost in this way, 
especially before large crowds. During ordinary games, with 
little or no noise from cheering crowds, players can avoid all 
the trouble, by calling out, "I have it," when the fielders are 
after a fly ball. No player should call out until he is sure that 
he can reach the ball. Then when he does call out the other 
player or players running for the same fly should play to back 
up, and give the man who is after the ball a fair and open field. 
Once a fielder calls that he has it, he alone should pay atten- 
tion to the ball, and he should make every efifort to reach the 
ball knowing that he had a clear field. 

Where large crowds attend the games, such as were present 
at the great world's championship series, the players should 
work with signals, as it is impossible to hear what players say. 
I would suggest that as soon as a player finds he can take the 
ball, that he stretch out his arms. This would not impede his 
speed and would be easily understood. In foot ball the player 
about to make a fair catch raises one hand above his head. 

This signal would handicap a ball player at full speed, while 
throwing the hands wide apart is a natural move for a fielder 
about to pull down a fly ball. 

Both the second-baseman and the shortstop are supposed to 
dash into the outfield at full speed for every short fly ball, and the 
fact that they are running with their back to the plate forces 
the outfielders to allow them to try for many balls that would 
have been easy for the outfielders. In cases of this kind all 
depends on the outfielder. If he calls out in time the infielder 
can stop. The trouble will come where the noise from the 
crowd prevents one player hearing the other. In this contin- 
gency the outfielder must protect the infielder by allowing the 
latter to make the play if possible ; in fact, all depends on the 
outfielder. 



CLIMATIC CONDITIONS DISCUSSED. 

A ball player might be valuable to a club in New Orleans and 
of little use to a team in Boston, 



SPALDING'S ATHLETIC LIBRARY. 69 

The best players have found it next to impossible to give good 
satisfaction to clubs in Washington and St. Louis, to feel at 
home and do good work in Boston and Chicago. 

It is a rare thing to find a major league pennant winner from 
an inland city, and the reason for this is often given as the 
result of climatic conditions. 

For example, the great pitcher, Cy Young, was all out of 
condition and pitched a few games for the St. Louis club. He 
enjoyed the distinction of being considered one of the best for 
ten years at Cleveland, and kept up his splendid work as soon 
as he came to Boston. He claimed that St. Louis did not agree 
with him, and it was too hot there in the summer, while the cool 
breezes of the lake at Cleveland, and the sea at Boston put him 
on edge for his best work. 

For years players have fought shy of Washington, while de- 
lighted to play in New York, Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago and 
Detroit, where the conditions were more favorable for invigorat- 
ing weather. 

Players pass from the big leagues of the north with lame 
arms and other ailments to revive as soon as they take up their 
homes in the Southland. ' The east winds of Boston are trying 
to pitchers who depend on curving, while the South is the 
proper country for the pla3'er with a lame arm. The players 
seldom mind the heat in the South, as it comes gradually and 
is generally cool at night. 

Going West into the higher altitudes, the weak lunged players 
will find the best playgrounds, for a young man may be a frost 
in Boston, and win the applause of the fans in Denver. Large 
sized players have a chance to do their best work in the cooler 
cities, while the smaller player will thrive in the South and far 
West. 

Washington and Cincinnati have never been able to win any- 
thing more than a minor league championship since Base Ball 
became a national institution. 

Boston, New York, Brooklyn, Chicago, Baltimore, Detroit and 
Pittsburg have monopolized the honors under organized ball, 
and Pittsburg, the city at the junction of two rivers, had to 
strike her colors when she met the vigorous youth of Boston, 
fed on baked beans and east wind. 

The most delightful cities to play ball in for a season are San 
Francisco, Oakland, Portland (Oregon), Boston, New York, 
Brooklyn. Philadelphia, Cleveland, Detroit, Chicago and Mil- 
waukee, and other cities close to the salt water and big lakes. 

On several occasions Cincinnati started out with pennant pos- 
sibilities, but was never able to finish in the fast company of the 
major leagues. The only team that ever won for the Queen 



70 SPALDING'S ATHLETIC LIBRARY. 

City was the famous Cincinnati Reds, of '69 and 'yo. The team 
was made up mostly of Eastern players and four-fifths of the 
games were played away from home. 

Where teams are as evenly matched as they are at the present 
time, in the major leagues, the climatic conditions will tell the 
story nine times out of ten. 

In picking a team for one of the warmer or inland cities it 
would be well to select the kind of player most likely to flourish 
under the conditions, and the older the player the more par- 
ticular he becomes ; and while able to hold up his end will be 
apt to pick out the place instead of being selected. I know of 
several players who failed to put their best efforts forth, simply 
because they were anxious to go to other cities, where the con- 
ditions would suit their physical makeup. 

The mistake is often made of training a ball team in the 
warm weather of the far South, and then bringing the men to 
the North for severe games. The result is bad and often very 
costly to the club. A gradual drifting from one climatic con- 
dition to another is a fairly safe proposition, but there is nothing 
more dangerous to limb and muscles than quick changes from 
South to North in the early spring. 

Curve pitchers can do their best work in the warmer climates, 
while the best batsmen are in their glory with the cool, bright, 
sporty conditions of the climate. 



THE KNOCKER TN BASE BALL. 

There is absolutely no room for the knocker in a successful 
Base Ball team. 

Some of the strongest teams ever organized have gone to 
pieces as the result of adding this microbe to the payroll of a 
ball club. There is no instance in the history of our game 
where a pronounced knocker has ever shone as a success, while 
a long string of signal failures were branded as champion 
knockers after showing their true colors in the handling of great 
ball players. 

A few names stand out in Base Ball as successful managers 
of men on the ball field. First comes Harry Wright, who orig- 
inated and developed professional Base Ball ; then comes A. G. 
Spalding, A. C. Anson, John M. Ward, Charley Comiskey, 
Frank G. Selee, Edward Hanlon, Fred Clarke, James Collins, 
Connie Mack and John McGraw. Those men were in absolute 
control of their teams and no man living can point to one in- 
stance of knocking by this select band of successful Base Ball 
directors, Every team handled by these men contained one or 



SPALDING'S ATHLETIC LIBRARY. 71 

more grand master of the art of knocking, but were always 
marked men and held in place by the tact of the man at the 
helm. 

In the major leagues every knocking player is a marked man, 
for the tip is passed along from one club to another, until the 
player is often released for this cause alone. He knows his own 
faults and each time determines to cut it out, but he cannot re- 
sist the temptation to indulge again in the exquisite pleasure 
when he finds a manager willing to listen, until once more 
passed up as a trouble maker. 

The greatest ball players are as sensitive as the E string of 
a violin and the semblance of a knock will often put them to 
the bad. Deep-thinking players have grown wise to the effects 
of making offhand remarks about each other, no matter how in- 
viting the occasion, until the professional ball player is gradually 
becoming a model of discretion. 

I will take John AIcGraw for an example. Being in abso- 
lute control of his New York players, he is not hampered by 
the owners of the club. No club in the business has a greater 
number of men who have been knocked from one club to an- 
other as New York. With a full quota of knockers in line, 
McGraw has taken this combination and by his own example 
has rounded out a well behaved lot of professionals. Success 
will weld the players together and the men listen to "Little 
Mack," who is ever on the alert for their good will, while never 
afraid to call down the guilty man. McGraw has practically 
reformed several bad men. Collins, Clarke, Mack, Comiskey 
and Selee have tamed an army of erratic players. Players are 
like the strings of a golden harp, they forever need tuning up, 
and it takes a master hand and mind to blend the notes into 
perfect harmony. 

Some of the best ball players in the past, have withered under 
the expression, "You're a knocker," until a clever manager, as 
well as the level-headed player, is ever careful not to come 
under this class. The meanest kind of a knocker is the player 
who carries stories to the club officials. If the men in charge 
are not bright enough to keep in close touch with the hired 
players, why, they are entitled to a shade the worst of it, is the 
rock bottom philosophy of the ball player, and this is what 
makes valuable a manager who is up to the inside work of the 
player, both on and off the field, and such were the accomplish- 
ments' of the men who made a success in the Base Ball busi- 
ness. No superficial knowledge ever won out, and but one man 
in the history, not a professional himself, at one time, ever won 
the blue ribbon of success. That exception to the rule was 
Frank G. Selee, who ever managed to be surrounded with high 



72 SPALDING'S ATHLETIC LIBRARY. 

class lieutenants, who were never jealous of their manager and 
gave him their best efforts. 

Frank Selee was ever on the alert for ihe knocker, and when 
he discovered one he was released in a quiet way and passed 
out of Selee's control. I could quote several cases in point while 
Selee managed the Boston club for a dozen years. 

The president of a ball club should never resort to personalities 
about ball players in general, and particularly not about his own 
men, no matter how poor their work may be, for the players 
have their off days just as in other lines of work, and it is when 
poor luck is following closely they need the most sympathy. 
Once the players have pronounced the official of the club a 
knocker trouble begins and the club commences to lose the power 
of making money, and very often able managers are unable to 
get proper results, simply because they are forced to take orders 
from men who are not capable of understanding the laws of 
friction in a Base Ball club, where mind over matter is just as 
essential for success as a good pair of legs. Be charitable but 
firm. 

Ball players usually know better than any one else when they 
are failing to make good and will ever listen to a fair criticism 
from the man in charge. 

The pick of the profession could not land a team in the first 
division if compelled to travel with a knocker as leader. Hearts 
as well as heads and hands win ball games, and the combination, 
like an eight-day clock, must be continually regulated and looked 
after. 

Let the fan knock, let the reporters have their little knock. 
The man who never attends the game is bound to knock on 
general principles. The team will thrive, even under these con- 
ditions, but let the officers of the club come under the head of 
knockers and there is no chance for success, for a ball team with 
a knocker in command is like a boat drifting onto hidden rocks 
with her rudder gone. 

In the words of a Quaker Base Ball philosopher, 'Tf you can't 
boost, don't knock." 



SPALDING'S OFFICIAL BASE BALL GUIDE. 

SPALDING'S 
SIMPLIFIED BASE BALL RULES 

Simplified Base Ball rules have been prepared by Mr. A. G. 
Spalding of New York and Chicago, who is the recognized 
authority on the National Game. They are of great assistance 
to beginners as well as to veterans. Based on the Official 
Playing Rules, as published in Spalding's Official Base Ball 
Guide, they state in condensed form all the technicalities that 
must be observed in the sport without the somewhat dry and 
formal wording which is necessarily employed by the rule 
makers to state each fact with great explicitness. 

The Simplified Rules are intended especially for the amateur 
player and spectator. It is frequently the case that both have 
neither the time nor the inclination to study at length the 
reason for motives through the intricacies of the Complete 
Code of Playing Rules. The latter are essential, of course, to 
the professional expert. 

In the Simplified Rules nothing will be found lacking which 
is accessory to the game. Wherever the technical reading of 
a rule is sought the simplified code provides for ready refer- 
ence, which is another point in its favor. 

A division is made of the important departments under 
appropriate headings, with a special notation referring to the 
particular official rule in the Spalding Guide bearing upon 
the point which is under discussion. By this method it will be 
observed that it is easy to turn from the Simplified Rules 
to the Official Rules whenever the exact law as laid down by 
the authorities of the major leagues is deemed requisite for 
consultation. 



The Ball Ground- 
How to Lay it Out 



Base Ball is played upon a level field, upon which is out- 
lined a square, which is known as the infield or "diamond." 
The term "diamond," in a broader sense, is also frequently 
used in the United States to apply to the entire playing field. 
Literally, however, the "diamond" is the infield proper. 

The "infield is bounded by the base-running paths, which 
extend from base to base. The bases are placed at right 
angles to each other, on each corner of the "diamond," at 
intervals of ninety feet beginning from the home plate. Thus, 
first base must be ninety feet from home plate, second base 
ninety feet from first base, third base ninety feet from second 
base and also ninety feet from the home plate, thus completing 
a perfect square. , , 

The territory which lies behind third base, second base and 
first base, beyond the infield and within the lines defining fair 
ground and also without these lines, is known as the outfield. 
All that portion of the field outside of the base lines that 
extend from home plate to first base and from home plate to 
third base, all territory behind the home plate and all terri- 
tory outside of straight lines reaching from the outside corner 
of third and first bases indefinitely to the outfield is foul 

Sometimes it is impossible for boys who desire to play Base 
Ball to obtain a field sufficiently large for the regulation 



SPALDING'S OFFICIAL BASE BALL GtJiDE. 

diamond, whose dimensions have previously heen stated, and 
in such cases an effort should always be made to place the 
bases at equal distances from each other in order that the 
symmetry of the diamond and the correct theory of the game 
may be preserved. Players of younger years may find that a 
smaller diamond adds more enjoyment to their amusement, 
since they are better able to cover the ground in fielding the 
ball in a smaller area and do not become so fatigued by running 
the bases when the latter are stationed at their full legal dis- 
tance from each other. 

The bases, except home plate, are best constructed of canvas 
bags filled with sawdust. Home plate should be of whitened 
rubber, whenever it is possible to obtain it. Some cruder sub- 
stance may be used for bases if nothing else is obtainable, but 
it is best to follow the suggestions given. First, second and 
third bases should be attached to pegs driven in the ground, 
and home plate should be sunk so that its upper surface is on. 
a level with the surface of the ground. 

The pitcher's position on a diamond of regulation size is 
located sixty and five-tenths feet from home plate, and on a 
straight line, extending from home plate to the center of second 
base. It, too. should be denoted by a plate of whitened rubber, 
to be sunk until its upper surface is on a level with the surface 
of the field. This plate should be the shape of a parallelo- 
gram twenty-four inches long by six inches wide, with the 
longer sides of the parallelogram at right angles to home 
plate. 

If a diamond smaller than the regulation size be used, the 

pitcher's position should be relatively closer to home plate. 

(For detailed description of laying out a "diamond" see 

Rules Nos. 1 to 13, inclusive, of Spalding's OflBclal 

Base Ball Guide.) 

The Ball 

The Spalding Official National League Ball is used in regula- 
tion games, but for players fifteen years of age or younger, the 
Spalding Official "National League .Junior" ball, made the 
same as the National League Ball, only slightly smaller in 
size, should be used, for it better fits the boy's hand and pre- 
vents straining the arm in throwing. 

(See Rule No. 14 of Spalding's Official Base Ball Guide.) 



The Redulation Bat 



The Bat must always be round and not to exceed 2% inches 
in diameter at the thickest part. Spalding Trade Mark Bats 
are made to suit all ages and physiques, and are strictly in 
accordance with official regulations. 

(See Rule No. 15 of Spalding's Official Base Ball Guide.) 

Regulation Gloves and Mitts 

The catcher or first baseman may wear a glove or mitt of 
any size, shape or weight. Every other player is restricted to 
the use of a glove or mitt weighing not over ten ounces and 
measuring not over fourteen inches around the palm. Spalding's 
Trade Marked Gloves and Mitts are regulation weight and size 
and are used by all champion players. 

(See Rule No. 20 of Spalding's Official Base Ball Guide.) 



SPALDING'S OFFICIAL BASE BALL GUIDE. 



Players' Uniforms 



Games played by players not clad in a regular uniform are 
called "scrub" games and are not recorded as "match" games. 
Every club should adopt a regular uniform, not only to enable 
the players to play properly and with comfort, but to distin- 
guish one team from the other. 

(See Rule No. 19 of Spalding's Official Base Ball Guide.) 



Players' Benches 



All ball grounds should be provided with two players' benches 
back of and on each side of the home plate. They must be not 
less than twenty-five feet outside of the coacher's' lines. The 
coachers may not go within fifteen feet of the base lines. Each 
team should occupy one of these benches exclusively, and their 
bats and accoutrements should be kept near the bench. 

(See Rule No. 21 of Spalding's Official Base Ball Guide.) 

Field Rules 

No person shall be allowed upon any part of the playing 
field except the players in uniform, the manager of each side 
(and the latter not when the game is in progress, except that 
he is in uniform) ; the umpire and the oflicers of the law. No 
manager, captain, or player is supposed to address the specta- 
tors. In a regular League match this is considered a viola- 
tion of the rules. 

(See Rules Nos. 75-77 of Spalding's Official Base Ball 
Guide.) 

Soiling and Providing Balls 

No player shall be allowed to soil a new ball prior to put- 
ting it into play. 

In League games the home team provides the ball. It is 
customary in smaller leagues to expect the home team to do 
the same. The umpire has the custody of the ball when it is 
not in play, but at the conclusion of the game the ball becomes 
the property of the winning team. 

(See Rule No. 14 of Spalding's Official Base Ball Guide.) 

Number and Positions of Players 

Two teams make up each contest with nine players on each 
side. The fielders are known as the pitcher, the catcher, the 
first baseman, the second baseman, the third baseman, the 
shortstop, the left fielder, the center fielder and the right 
fielder. None of these is required to occupy an exact position 
on the field, except the pitcher, who must stand with his foot 
touching the pitcher's plate when in the act of delivering the 
ball to the batter, and the catcher, who must be within the 
"catcher's space" behind the batter and within t«n feet of 
home plate. Players in imiform must not occupy seats in the 
stands or mingle with the spectators. 

(See Rules Nos. 16, 17 and 18 of Spalding's Official Base 
Pall Quide.) 



SPALDING'S OFFICIAL BASE BALL GUIDE. 



Substitute Players 



It is always advisable to have a sufficient number of sub- 
stitutes in uniform ready to take the field in case any player 
shall become disabled or be disqualified. 

(See Rule No. 28 of Spalding's Official Base Ball Guide.) 

Choice of Innings — 
Fitness of Field for Play 

The home team has the choice of innings and determines 
whether the ground is fit for play providing it has rained 
before the beginning of the game. If two clubs from the same 
city are playing, the captain of the team on whose ground the 
game is played has the choice of innings. 

(See Rule No. 29 of Spalding's Official Base Ball Guide.) 

A Regulation Game 

The game begins with the fielders of the team losing the 
choice of innings in their respective positions. The first batter 
of the opposing team Is in his "box" at home plate. This 
"box" is a parallelogram, six feet by four, on either side of 
home plate, and six inches back from the furthest corner of 
the plate. 

If it is not possible to outline a "box" it should be remem- 
bered that the batter is never allowed to step over home plate 
to strike at the ball, and that he must not run forward toward 
the pitcher, to exceed three feet from the center of the plate, 
to strike at the ball. 

The umpire may take his position, at his option, either 
behind the pitcher or the catcher. He judges all balls and 
strikes, declares all outs, decides whether the ball is batted 
foul or fair, decides as to the legality of the pitcher's deliv- 
ery, and, in fact, has complete control of the game. His 
decisions must never be questioned, except by the captain of 
either team, and only by the latter when there is a difference 
of opinion as to the correct interpretation of the rules. 

The team at bat is allowed two coaches on the field, one 
opposite first base and the other opposite third base, but they 
must never approach either base to a distance closer than 
fifteen feet, and must not coach when there are no runners on 
the bases. 

Whenever a player is substituted on a nine he must always 
bat in the order of the man who retires from the game. A 
player may be substituted at any time, but the player whose 
place he takes is no longer eligible to take part in the contest. 

A game is won when the side first at bat scores fewer runs 
in nine innings than the side second at bat. This rule applies 
to games of fewer innings. Thus, whenever the side second 
at bat has scored more runs in half an inning less of play 
than the side first at bat it is the winner of the game, pro- 
vided that the side first at bat has completed five full innings 
as batsmen. A game is also won if the side last at bat scores 
the winning run before the third hand is out. 

In case of a tie game play continues until at the end of 
even innings one side has scored more runs than the other, 
provided that if the side last at bat scores the winning run 



SPALDING'S OFFICIAL BASE BALL GUIDE. 

before the third hand is out the game shall terminate. This 
latter provision applies to a regular nine-inning game. Rul- 
ings relative to drawn games and games that are called because 
of atmospheric disturbances, fire or panic will be found under 
the head of "Umpire's Duties." 

(See Rules Xos. 22-27 of Spalding's Official Base Ball 
Guide.) 



Pitching Rules 



Before pitching the ball the pitcher must face the batsman 
with both feet squarely on the ground and in front of the 
pitcher's plate. When the ball is delivered the pitcher must 
face the batter and one of his feet must be in contact with 
the pitcher's plate. Not more than one step must be taken in 
the act of delivery. 

Whenev^' the ball after being pitched and without striking 
the ground goes over any part of home plate between the knee 
and the shoulder of the batsman it must be called a strike, 
whether the batsman strikes at it or not. 

If the pitcher fails to deliver the ball over any part of the 
plate, or if he delivers it over the plate above the shoulder or 
below the knee and the batsman declines to strike at it, it is 
called a ball. 

If the ball touches the groimd before it passes home plate 
and is not struck at by the batsman, it is a ball and must be 
called as such by the umpire. If struck at, it is, of course, 
recorded as a strike. 

At the beginning of each inning the pitcher is allowed to 
throw five balls to the catcher or to an infielder for "warming- 
up" practice, the batsman refraining from occupying his posi- 
tion in the "box" at home plate. 

After the batsman steps into his position the pitcher must 
not throw the ball around the infield, except to retire a base 
runner. If he violates this rule and, in the opinion of the 
umpire, is trving to delay the game, the umpire may call a 
ball for every throw thus made. If the pitcher occupies more 
than twenty seconds in delivering the ball to the batter the 
umpire may call a ball for each offense of this nature. 

The pitcher must not make any motion to deliver the ball 
to the batsman and fail to do so, nor must he feint to throw 
to first base when it is occupied by a runner and fail to 
complete the throw. Violation of this rule constitutes a balk 
which gives all runners who are on the bases at the time an 
opportunitv to advance a base each without being put out. 

A balk ' is also declared when the pitcher throws to any 
base to catch a runner without stepping directly toward that 
base in the act of making the throw ; when either foot of the 
pitcher is behind the pitcher's plate when he delivers the ball ; 
when he fails to face the batsman in the act of delivering the 
ball ; when neither foot of the pitcher is in contact with the 
pitcher's plate in the act of delivering the ball ; when m the 
opinion of the umpire the pitcher is purposely delaying the 
game ; when he stands in his position and makes any motion 
with any part of his body corresponding to his customary mo- 
tion when pitching and fails immediately to delivei- the ball ; 
when he delivers the ball to the catcher when the latter is 
outside of the catcher's box. 

When a pitched ball, at which the batsman has not struck, 
hits the batsman ov the umplce before the catcher touches it, 



SPALt)lNG*S OS't'lClAL BASE BALL GUlftlS. 

the umpire must call it a dead ball and no base runner can 
advance. The batsman, however, must be in his position at 
the time that the ball hits him and must make every effort 
to get out of the way of the ball if he fears that it will hit 
him. 

If a batsman makes a foul strike, if a foul hit is not 
caught, if the umpire declares a dead ball, or if a fair hit ball 
touches a base runner, the ball becomes dead and is not in 
play until after it has been returned to the pitcher, standing 
in his position, and the umpire has given the word to resume 
play. No base runners may advance when the ball is not in 
play. 

Whenever a person not engaged in the game touches a bartted 
or thrown ball, a block follows. This must at once be an- 
nounced by the umpire, and runners shall be privileged to 
advance bases until the ball is thrown to the pitcher, standing 
in his position. After that they advance at their peril. The 
pitcher may then throw a runner out wherever he sees a 
possibility of doing so. Should a spectator retain possession 
of a blocked ball, or throw it or kick it out of the reach of 
the fielder who is endeavoring to recover it, the umpire must 
call "Time," and hold all runners at such bases as they occu- 
pied when he called "Time" until after he has permitted play 
to resume, with the ball returned to the pitcher standing in 
his position. 

(See Rules Nos. 30-37 of Spalding's Official Base Ball 
Guide.) 



Batting Rules 



Before the game begins each captain must present the bat- 
ting order of his team to the umpire, who shall submit it to 
the captain of the other side. This batting order is followed 
throughout the game except when a player is substituted for 
another, the substitute batting in the order of the retired 
player. 

Each player of each nine must go to bat in his regular 
order unless a substitute has been authorized to take hig 
place. 

After the first inning the first batter in each succeeding 
inning is the player following the man who completed his 
full time at bat in the inning before. For instance, if a 
batter has but one strike in the first inning and the third 
hand be put out while he is at bat, he becomes the first batter 
in the following inning, not having completed his full time at 
bat in the inning previous. In such case, any balls and 
strikes called in the previous inning do not count when he 
resumes his time at bat. 

Players of the side at bat must remain on their seats on the 
players' bench except when called upon to bat, to coach, or to 
act as substitute base runners. 

No player of the side at bat except the batsman is priv- 
ileged to stand in the space behind the catchei-, or to cross it 
while the pitcher and catcher are handling the ball. 

Players sitting on the bench of the side at bat must get out 
of the way of fielders who approach them while trying to 
field a batted or thrown ball. 

Any legally batted ball that settles on fair ground (the 
infield) between home and first base, or between home and 
third base, or that bounds from fair ground to the outfield 



SPALDING'S OFFICIAL BASE BALL GDlDffi. 

inside of first base, or third base, or tliat touches the person of 
a player or the umpire on fair ground, is a fair hit. 

A fair hit is also any legally batted ball that first falls 
on fair territory beyond first base or third base. 

Any legally batted ball that settles on foul ground is a foul 
hit, except that a ground hit, should it roll from foul to fair 
territory between first and home and third and home, and 
remain there, is a fair hit. 

A ground hit that first strikes fair territory and rolls out- 
side of the foul line between first and home, or third and 
home, is a foul hit. 

Any legally batted ball that falls: on foul territory beyond 
first base, or third base, or that touches the person of a player 
or an umpire on foul ground, is a foul hit. 

A foul tip is the continuation of a strike which has merely 
been touched by the bat, shoots directly into the hands of the 
catcher and is held by him, 

A bunt hit is legally tapping the ball slowly within the 
infield by the batsman. If a foul result, which is not legally 
caught, the batsman is charged with a strike, whether it be 
the first, second or third strike. 

Any hit going outside the ground is fair or foul as the 
umpire judges its flight at the point at which it passes beyond 
the limitations of the enclosure in which the contest takes 
place. A legal home run over a wall or a fence can only be 
made when the wall or fence is 235 feet from the home plate. 
This rule is not invariably followed in amateur games. 

If the batsman strikes at a pitched ball and misses it, a 
strike is called. 

If the batsman fails to strike at a pitched ball which passes 
over the plate at the proper height, a strike is called. 

A foul tip caught by the catcher is a strike. 

A foul hit, whether a fly or a ground hit, bounding to any 
part of foul ground, is a strike unless the batter has two 
strikes. After two strikes the batter may foul the ball without 
penalty imless he bunts or is caught out on a foul fly. 

All bunts rolling foul are strikes. If the batsman strikes 
at the ball and misses it, but the ball hits him, it is a strike. 

If the batsman, with either of his feet out of the batsman's 
box, hits the ball in any way it is a foul strike and the bats- 
man is out. 

If a batsman bats out of turn and it is discovered after 
he has completed his time at bat. but befoi'e the ball has been 
delivered to the succeeding batsman, the player who should 
have batted is out, and no runs can be scored, or bases be 
i-un, on any play made by the wrong batter. This penalty is 
not enforced unless the error has been discovered before the 
ball is delivered by the pitcher to the succeeding batsman. 

If the error is discovered while the wrong batsman is at 
bat, the proper player may take his place, but he must be 
charged with whatever balls and strikes have already been 
recorded against the wrong batsman. Whenever this happens 
the batters continue to follow each other in their regular 
order. 

Should the batsman who is declared out for batting out of 
order be the third hand out. the proper batsman in the next 
inning is the player who would have come to bat had the side 
been retired bv o'rdinarv play in the preceding inning. 

The batsman is out if he fails to take his position within 
one minute after the umpire has called for him. 



SPALDING'S OFFICIAL BASE BALL GUIDE. 

The batsman is out if a foul fly, other than a foul tip, ia 
caught by a fielder, providing the latter does not use his cap. 
his protector, or any illegal contrivance to catch the ball, and 
providing the ball does not strike some object other than a 
tielder before being caught. It has been ruled that when the 
ball lodges in the catcher's protector by accident and he 
secures it before it falls to the ground, the catch is fair. This 
is a very exceptional play. 

The batsman is out on a foul strike. 

The batsman is out whenever he attempts to hinder the 
catcher from fielding or throwing the ball, either by stepping 
outside of the lines of his position or by deliberate obstruc- 
tion. 

The batsman is out when throe strikes are called and first 
base is occupied, whether the catcher holds the ball or not, 
except there be two hands out at the time. 

The batsman is out, if, while attempting a third strike, the 
l)all touches any part of his person, and base runners are not 
allowed to advance. 

Before two men are out, if the batsman pops up a fly to the 
infield with first and second, or first, second and third bases 
occupied, he is out if the umpire decides that it is an infield 
hit. The umpire shall immediately declare when the ball is 
hit whether it is an infield hit or an outfield hit. It is cus- 
tomary for the umpire to call the batter out in case that he 
decides it an infield hit, so that base runners may be pro- 
tected and not force each other out through the medium of a 
double play. 

The batsman is out on a bunt that rolls foul if the attempted 
bunt be made on the third strike. 

The batsman is out if he steps from one batsman's box to 
the other after the pitcher has taken his position. 

(See Rules Nos. 38-51 of Spalding's Official Base Ball 
Guide.) 



Base Running Rules 



After the batsman makes a fair hit in which he is not put 
out he must touch first, second and third bases, and then the' 
home plate in regular succession in order to score a run. 

No base runner may score ahead of the men who precedes 
him in the batting order, if that player is also a base runner. 

The batsman must run to first base immediately after mak- 
ing a fair hit, or when four balls have been called by the 1 
umpire, or when three strikes have been declared by the umpire. 

If the batsman is hit by a pitched ball, either on his per- 
son or clothing, and the umpire is satisfied that the bntsmin .' 
did not purposely get in the way of the ball, and that he 
used due precaution to avoid it, he is entitled to run to first 
base without being put out. 

The batsman is entitled to run to first base without being 
put out if the catcher interferes with him or tries to prevent 
him from striking at the ball. 

The batsman is entitled to first base, without being put ' 
out, if a fair hit ball hit either the person or clothing of an ( 
umpire or a base runner who is on fair ground. 

Whenever the umpire sends the batsman to first base after 
four balls hnve been called, or for bei'^<r hit by a pitched ball, 
or because he has been interfered with by the catcher, all 
runners on bases immediately ahead of him may advance a 



SPALDING'S OFFICIAL BASE BALL GUIDE. 

base each without being put out. A runner on second or third 
base with first base unoccupied would not be considered a 
runner immediately ahead. 

Any base runner is entitled to advance one base when the 
umpire calls a balk. 

Any base runner is entitled to advance one base when the 
ball, after being delivered by the pitcher, passes the catcher 
and touches the umpire, or any fence or building within ninety 
feet of the home plate. The penalty in regard to touching a 
fence or building is frequently waived by mutual consent where 
the ground area is limited. 

If a fielder obstructs a base runner the latter may go to the 
next base without being put out, providing the fielder did not 
have the ball in his hand with which to touch the runner. 

A base runner may advance a base whenever a fielder stops 
or catches the ball with his cap, glove, or any part of his 
uniform detached from its proper place on his person. 

The base runner shall return to his base without liability 
of being put out when a foul is not legally caught, when a 
ground ball is batted foul, or when the batter makes a foul 
strike. 

On a dead ball the runner shall return to his base without 
liability of being put out, unless it happens to be the fourth 
pitched ball to the batter, in which case, if first, or first and 
second base, or first, second and third bases be occupied, run- 
ners shall advance to the next bases in regular order. If by 
accident the umpire interferes with the catcher's throw, or a 
thrown ball hits the umpire, the runner must return to his 
base and is not to be put out. If a pitched ball is struck at 
by the batsman, but missed, and the ball hits the batsman, 
the runner must return to his base and may not be put out. 
In any of the above cases the runner is not required to 
touch any intervening bases to reach the base to which he is 
legally entitled. 

If after the third strike has been called and missed by 
the catcher the then batsman attempts to hinder the catcher 
from fielding the ball, he is out. 

Any fly ball legally hit by the batsman and legally caught 
on fair or foul ground is out. 

Three strikes are out if the catcher holds the ball. In case 
he drops it, but picks it up, and touches the batsman, or 
throws it to first base, and the first baseman touches the base, 
or the batsman, before the latter can get to first base, the 
batsman is out. 

Should the batsman make a fair hit and in the last half of 
the distance between home plate and first base run more than 
three feet outside of the base line, he is out, except that he 
may run outside of the line to avoid interference with a fielder 
trj^ing to field the ball as batted. This rule is construed rather 
liberally owing to the great speed with which runners go to 
first base. 

Whenever the runner is on the way from first to second base, 
second to third base, or third base to home plate, or in reverse 
order trying to secure the base which he has just left, he 
must keep within three feet of a direct line between bases. 
If he runs out of line to avoid being touched by a fielder, he is 
out. However, if a fielder is on the line trying to field a batted 
ball, the runner may run behind him to avoid interference, and 
shall not be called out for it. 

Interference with a fielder attempting to field a batted ball 



SPALDING'S OFFICIAL BASE BALL GUIDE. 

retires the runner, unless two fielders are after the same hit, 
and the runner collides with the one whom the umpire be- 
lieves to have had the lesser opportunity to field the ball. 

The runner is always out at any time that he may be 
touched by the ball in the hands of a fielder, unless the runner 
is on the base to which he is legally entitled. The ball, how- 
ever, must be held by the fielder after he has touched the 
runner. If the runner deliberately knocks the ball out of the 
fielder's hands, to avoid being put out when not on base, he 
shall be declared out. 

If a runner fails to get back to a base after a foul or fair 
hit fly ball is caught, other than a foul tip, before the ball is 
fielded to that base and legally held, or the runner be touched 
by a fielder with the ball in his hands before he can get back 
to the base last occupied, the runner is out, except that if the 
ball be thrown to the pitcher, and he delivers it to the batter, 
this penalty does not apply. If a base should be torn from its 
fastenings as the runner strikes it, he cannot be put out. 

If a runner is on first base, or runners are on first and 
second bases, or on first, second and third bases, and the ball 
shall be legally batted to fair ground, all base runners are 
forced to run, except in the case of an infield fly (previously 
referred to), or a long fly toi the outfield. Runners may be 
put out at any succeeding base if the ball is fielded there and 
properly held, or the runners may be touched out between 
bases in the proper manner. After a foul fiy is caught, or 
after a long fiy to the outfield is caught, the base runners 
■have the privilege of trying for the next base. 

A base runner hit by a legally batted ball in fair territory 
is out. In such case no base shall be run, unless necessitated 
by the batsman becoming a base runner. No run shall be 
scored nor shall any other base runner be put out except the 
one hit by the batted ball, until the umpire puts the ball in 
play. 

A runner who fails to touch each base in regular or reverse 
order, when a fair play is being made, is out if the ball be 
properly held by a fielder on the base that should have been 
touched, or the runner be touched out between bases by the 
ball legally held by a fielder, provided that the ball has not 
been delivered to the batsman in the meantime by the pitcher. 

If a runner fails to return to the base that he occupied 
when "Time" was called after the umpire has announced 
"Play" he is out. provided that the pitcher has not in the 
meantime delivered the ball to the batsman. 

The rimner is out if he occupies third base with no one 
out or one out and the batsman interferes with a play that is 
being made at home plate. 

The runner is out if he passes a base runner who is caught 
between two bases. The moment that he passes the preceding 
base runner the umpire shall declare him out. 

When the batter runs to first base he may overrun that base 
if he turns to the right after passing it. If he turns to the 
left he renders himself liable to be touched out before he gets 
back to the base. 

If, before two hands are out. and third base is occupied, 
the coacher at third base shall attempt to fool a fielder who is 
making or trying to make a play on a batted ball not caught 
on the fly, or on a thrown ball, and thereby draws a throw 
to home "plate, the runner on third base must be declared out. 

If one or more members of the team at bat gather around 
a base for which a runner is trying, thereby confusing the 



SPALDING'S OFFICIAL BASE BALL GUIDE. 

fielding side, the runner trying for the base shall be declared 
out. 

If a runner touches home plate before another runner pre- 
ceding him in the batting order, the former loses his right to 
tliird base. 

(See Rules Nos. 52-57 of Spalding's Official Base Ball 
Guide.) 

Coaching Rules 

The coachers must confine themselves to legitimate direc- 
tions of the base runners only, and there must never be more 
than two coachers on the field, one near first base and the other 
near third base. 

(See Rule No. 58 of Spalding's Official Base Ball Guide.) 

Scoring of Runs 

One run shall be scored every time that a player has made 
the legal circuit of the bases before three men are out, pro- 
vided that a runner who reaches home on or during a play 
in which the third man is forced out, or the third man is put 
out before reaching first base, the runner shall not be entitled 
to score. 

A player who makes a legal hit to fair territory is entitled 
to as rdany bases as he can advance without being put out. 
If a fielder is unable to get the ball home until the man has 
completed the circuit of the bases, the latter is entitled to a 
home run, provided the fielder has not made a misplay in 
handling the ball. The same rule applies to the making of a 
three-base hit, a two-base hit, or a hit for one base, which is 
also known as a single. 

(See Rule No. 59 of Spalding's Official Base Ball Guide.) 

Ground Rules 

Any special ground rules shall be understood by both team 
captains and the umpire, or umpires, in case there be two 
oflBcials. The captain of the home club establishes the ground 
rules. 

(See Rule No. 69 of Spalding's Official Base Ball Guide.) 



Umpire's Duties 



The umpire has the right to call a draw game, whenever a 
storm interferes, if the score is equal on the last inning played. 
Calling a "draw game" must not be confounded with calling 
"time." 

If the side second at bat is at bat when a storm breaks, 
and the game is subsequently terminated without further play, 
and this side has scored the same number of runs as the other 
side, the umpire can call the game a draw without regard to 
the score of the last equal inning. In other words, the game 
is a draw just as it rests. 

Under like conditions if the side second at bat has scored 
more runs than the side first at bat, it shall be declared the 
winner, all runs for both sides being counted. 

A game can be forfeited by the umpire if a team refuses to 
take the field within five minutes after he has called "Play" ; 



SPALDING'S OFFICIAL BASE BALL GUIDE. 

if one side refuses to play after the game has begun ; if, after 
the umpire has suspended play, one side refuses to play after 
he has again called "Play" ; if one side tries to delay the 
game ; if the rules are violated after warning by the umpire ; 
if there are not nine players on a team after one has been 
removed by the umpire. The umpire has the right to remove 
players for objecting to decisions or for behaving in an un- 
gentlemanly manner. 

Only by the consent of the captain of an opposing team may 
a base runner have a player of his own side run for him. 

Play may be suspended by the umpire because of rain, and 
if rain falls continuously for thirty minutes the umpire may 
terminate the game. The umpire may call "Time" for any 
valid reason. 



Umpire's Authority 



Under no circumstances shall a captain or player dispute 
the accuracy of an umpire's judgment and decision on a play. 
If the captain thinks the umpire has erred in interpretation 
of the rules he may appeal to the umpire, but no other player 
is privileged to do so. 

(See Rules Nos. 61-62 of Spalding's Official Base Ball 
Guide.) 



General Definitions 



"Play" is the order of the umpire to begin the game or to 
resume it after "Time" has been called. 

"Time" is the order of the umpire to suspend play tem- 
porarily. 

"Game" is the announcement of the umpire that the contest 
is terminated. 

"Inning" is the time at bat of one team and is terminated 
when three of that team have been legally put out. 

"Time at Bat" is the duration of a batter's turn against 
the pitcher until he becomes a base runner in one of the ways 
prescribed in the previous rules. In scoring a batter is exempt 
from a time at bat if he is given a base on balls, if he makes 
a sacrifice hit, if he is hit by a pitched ball, or if he is inter- 
fered with by the catcher. 

(See Rules Nos. 78-82 of Spalding's Official Base Ball 
Guide.) 



Scoring Rules 



Each side may have its own scorer and In case of disagree- 
ment the umpire shall decide, or the captain of each team 
may agree upon one scorer for the match. 

(See Spalding's Official Base Ball Guide for the Scoring 
Rules, and see Spalding's Official Score Book for a 
Complete Guide on "How to Score Correctly and 
with Undei'standing.") . 



A 

"Container" 

of 

a dozen 

Spalding 

Official 

Lsague Balls. 



SPALDING'S OFFICIAL BASE BALL GUIDE. 

What a Base Ball Club Needs 

It ia immaterial what position a ball club occupies, be it a National 
L.eague team, a minor leaguer or a lot team, the most important article 
of the game is the ball, and a club should have the best ball made. The 

Spalding Official National 
League Ball— the adopted 
ball of the National 
League for over thirty 
years— is the leader where- 
ever Base Ball is played, 
and is used by nine-tenths 
of the organized leagues 
throughout the world. 
The price is $1.50 each, 
but when ordered by clubs 
in dozen lots a special club 
price of $15.00 a dozen is 
made. The famous Spald- 
ing line of Base Balls in- 
cludes in addition to the 
Official National League 
Ball fourteen other balls, 
all well made and bearing the 
Spalding trade-mark, as follows : 

The Spalding "Double Seam" 

League Ball. This ball is made 

with the Game care and of the same materials as the National League 

Ball, but is double stitched ; warranted to last a full game. Price, $1.50. 

The Spalding "National Association" 
Bill. This is a splendid ball, second 
oily to the National Laague Ball, and 
is warranted to last a full game under 
ordinary conditions. Price, $1.25 each, 
and in dozen lots to clubs, $12.00 per 
djzen. 

The "Semi-Pro" League Ball; regu- 
lation size and weight; a good ball. 
Price. $1.00. 

The "City League" Ball; full size 
and weight; excellent for general prac- 
tice. Each, 75 cents. 

A. G. Spalding & Bros, have always 
made it a point to satisfy the juniors, 
and the only complete line in the 
world for the juniors to use is the 




Spalding line. 

The official ball for the boys is 
the Spalding Official "National 
League Jr." This ball is in every 
respect the same as the Spald- 
ing Official National League 
Ball, except smaller in size. 
All games played with this 
Junior League Ball will 
be recognized as legal. 
Price. $1.00. 

The National As- 
sociation Jr." is same 
in every way as the 
"National Associa- 
tion." but smaller in 
size; it costs 75 cents. 




Spalding's 
Complete 

line of 
Base Balls. 



SPALDING'S OFFICIAL BASE BALL GUIDE. 



The ball that promises to be a popular one among the 
juniors this year will be the "Public School League." It 
is a well made, junior size ball, with horsehide cover. It is 
one of the best balls for general practice for boys' teams. 
Price, 50 cents. 

The rest of the Spalding line includes the Spalding "Pro- 
fessional," at 50 cents; "King of the Diamond," 25 cents; 
"Lively Bounder," 25 cents; "Junior Professional," 25 cents; 
" Boys' Amateur," 10 cents ; " Boys' Favorite," 10 cents, and 
"Rocket," 5 cents. 

With such a variety to select from, any team can get a 
Spalding ball suitable to its needs, and when a Spalding ball 
is used there is no question of unfairness or irregularity, as 
the Spalding line is uniformly made and universally recognized 
as the standard wherever a game is played. 

THE BAT 

Before starting on a description of the Spalding line of bats, 
the following article from the New York Evening Journal of 
February 1, 1908, by Sam Crane, the old-time player and now 
the Base Ball writer on that publication, will be of interest. 

BY SAM CRANE 

"Before McGraw left for Los 
Angeles he went down to the cel- 
lars of A. G. Spalding & Bros, and 
selected a string of bats that spell 
base hits. Six dozen of them Mc- 
Graw picked out, and they were all 
those seasoned fellows that 'zing' 
whenever the ball is met on the 
trade mark. 

"McGraw, when he selected the 
bats, said to me : ' It is the bats 
that tell the story and make ball 
players. Pitchers may be all right, 
and I guess they are, but give me 
the bat I want — the one that feels 
good to me — and I will make all the 
other fellows extend their grounds.' 

TAKES PLENTY OF BATS. 
" Well, Murphy takes down with 
him to Marlin Springs all those 
pitcher disturbers, and there is not 
a big stick in the bunch that don't 
call for a .300 average. Even Leon 
Ames has a bat labeled in his name 
that will produce results— so 'tis 



The Spalding line of bats is a 
most complete one. The leader is 

the Spalding "Gold Medal" Bat. Tyrus K Cobb 

Its popularity has been secured by Champion Batsman 

its superiority. It is perfect m bal- American League. 

IV.. Ml anceand finish and the quality of 
Model timber the best; made in light or 
dark finish and with plain or taped handle. Price, $1.00 each, Spalding 
Boys' " Gold Medal " plain bat, 50 cents. The Spalding "Record " Bat is 
made from the same models as the Gold Medal bats, but finished in rough 
and ready style, with no polish— simply the plain oil finish. Packed one 




SPALDING'S OFFICIAL BASE BALL GDIDD. 



dozen in a crate (assorted lengths from 30 to 35 inches and weights from 
36 to 42 ounces). The Record Bat is especially recommended for club use, 
including college and school teams. Price, $1.00 each. 

As usuali Spalding introduces something new this year— " Players' 
Autograph" Bats. This line was established to satisfy the ever-increas- 
i ng demand from players throughout America for bats of the same model 
as used by the leading batsmen, and they are duplicates of the models of 
the well known stars, such as Cobb, Chance, Stone, Keeler, Bresnahan 
and Huggins, and the line has been so selected that it is immaterial what 
size, weight or length bat a player wants he is sure to hit it in one of the 
"Autograph" bats. The cost of the "Autograph" bats, plain oil finish, is 
$1.00 each; special to clubs, $10.00 per dozen. 

The Spalding "Trade-Mark" bats still retain their old-time popularity, 
because they are kept up to the high standard set for them in the early 
days of the game, when they were introduced by A. G. Spalding & Bros, 
in 1877, and have been recognized for over thirty years as standard by 
players. No. 3-OT is a wagon tongue ash bat, taped handle, 50 cents ; 
No. 3-0, Wagon Tongue ash bat, plain handle, 50 cents; No. OXT, Axletree 
bat, taped handle, 35 cents ; No. OX, Axletree bat, plain handle, 25 cents. 

It is in the Spalding Boys' Bats that A. G. Spalding & Bros, appeal to 
the youngsters. No. 3X, Junior League bat, plain handle, extra quality 
ash, spotted burning, 25 cents; No. 3-OB, Boys' Wagon Tongue bat, taped 
handle, 25 cents; No. 2XB, Boys' bat, good quality ash, 10 cents. 

The bat and the ball taken care of, we will now consider other necessary 
implements, the inflated body protector, for instance. These come in five 
different styles, ranging in price from $3.00 to $8.00 ; for boys, the 
" Youths'," well made, costs $2.50. 

MASKS 

Spalding's Masks are the best on ac- 
count of their superior workmanship, 
and their long experience as manufac- 
turers. With a poor mask, a catcher 
takes a big risk, when by buying an ar- 
ticle that is made right, he saves him- 
self from possible disfigurement for life. 
There are no less than fourteen different 
tyles to select from in the Spalding line, be- 
ginning with the "Sun Protecting" Mask, 
used by prominent leaguers, at $4.00, to the 
Spalding " Special Soldered " Mask, $4.00; 
"Neck Protecting" Mask, $3.50,^ "Na- 
tional Association" Mask, $2.50; ' Semi- 
Pro League" Mask, black finish, $2.50, 
and the "Regulation League," three dif- 
ferent styles, $2.00 and $1.75 in black 
wire, and $1.50 in bright wire. 

The younger players have five different 
masks to select from. Spalding's * Am- 
ateur," $1.00; "Boys' Amateur," black 
wire, $1.00; "Regulation" Mask, 75 cents; 
"Youths'" Mask, 50 cents, and No. "D," 
slightly smaller than the Youths' mask, 

Spalding now makes a special mask for 
umpires which combines the neck-protect- 
ing arrangement and a special ear pro- 
tection. It costs $5.00, and is the safest 
mask for an umpire to wear. 








SPALDING'S OFFICIAL BASE BALL GUIDE. 



All clubs need Bases. Home Plates, Pitchers' Plates, Foul Flags, Uni- 
form Bags— these Spalding's have in various qualities, prices and designs. 

Then there are Bat Bags for the club. No. 2, of waterproof canvas, to 
hold twelve bats, at $3.50 ; No. 3, for six bats, $2.00. No. 7 is a special 
club bat bag. of sole leather, made particularly for leagues, colleges and 
clubs; just the tViing for clubs that travel on a schedule, $30.00 each. 

There are also individual bat bags. No. 01 is of sole leather and holds 
two bats, it costs $4.00; No. 02, of heavy waterproof canvas, $1.50; No. 03, 
heavy canvas, $1.00. 

Every club needs a Score Book. The Spalding line is as follows : No. 4. 
board cover, 30 games, $1.00: No. 5, cloth cover, 60 games, $1.50 ; No. 7. 
cloth cover, 160 games, $3.00. Pocket Score Books, 10, 25 and 50 cents each. 

UNIFORMS 

The Spalding line of Uniforms includes 
eight different grades, and is the only 
complete line of uniforms that a ball 
player has to select from. Catering to 
the highest class of ball players, Spald- 
ing is naturally in a position to give an 
amateur team the highest class of goods 
at the lowest prices, and made in a way 
that experienced base ball tailors can 
effect. The highest grade made is the 
No. Uniform, in fifteen different col- 
ors. The blue check, red stripe and 
green stripe present new features for 
uniforms, and are meeting with excel- 
lent favor among different clubs. Price, 
$12.50 each when ordered for team. 

Spalding No. M Uniform, the Minor 
League Uniform, is for a club that de- 
sires a medium price uniform that is sure 
to give them good service. It is with- 
out doubt one of the strongest and most 
durable uniforms at the price and can- 
not be equaled. Team suits, $7.50 each. 
The other grades are : University Uniform. No. 1, same as No. 0, but 
lighter in weight, $10.00 each; Interscholastic Uniform, No. 2, a very pop- 
ular suit, which can usually be worn two seasons, $8.00 each; Club Special 
Uniform', excellent for amateur clubs. No. 3, $5.00 each; Amateur Special 
Uniform' very popular with junior teams. No. 4, $4.00 each ; the Spalding 
Junior Uniform, No. 5, $3.00 each ; the Spalding Youths' Uniform, No. 6, 
in good quality gray material only, $1.00 each. „ ,,- t> 

A coat is a necessary part of the equipment of a team, bpaldmg Base 
Ball Coats are made in four grades, and will be furnished in stock 
colors The Spalding Vest Sweater, No. VG, is very popular with 
ball players. Best quality worsted, heavy weight, pearl buttons, price, 
$6 00 each • Boys' Jacket Sweater, No. BRC, all wool, in gray only, $2.50 
each ; Spalding Ribbed Coat Sweater, No. CDW, made of very good 
quality worsted, ribbed knit, in gray only, costs $5.00 each. _ 

The Spalding T Shirt is the most comfortable garment ever designed 
for base ball pitchers, and is especially serviceable during the early spring 
and late fall games ; all wool merino, fleece lined, with roll collar and 
long sleeves. $3.50 each. , ... , ^ - , j 

The Spalding measurement blank and a complete lot of samples and 
prices of uniforms will be sent free to any address upon request. To 
save time, write to the nearest Spalding store, a list of which can be 
found on the inside front cover. 




FranK x^. Chance. 



SPALDING'S OFFICIAL BASE BALL GUIDE. 

What a Base Ball Player Needs 



Twenty- three styles of 
Catchers' Mitts— and every 
one a winner — comprises the 
Spalding- line for 1908. Every 
catcher, no matter what pet 
ideas about a mitt he may 
have, will find them embodied 
in some particular style of 
a Spalding Mitt. As Spald- 
ing's have a store in every 
city of the National League 
and American League cir- 
cuits, they are naturally the 
headquarters for Base Ball 
and are continually receiving 
suggestions from all of the 
leading players, who visit the 
stores to get their equipment. 
Space does not permit much 
more than a list of names and 
prices, but no boy should 
fail to send for a copy of the 
Spalding Base Ball Catalogue, 
which contains pictures, 
prices and descriptions of everything new in Base Ball. Write to the 
nearest Spalding store ( see inside front cover for list ) and the cata- 
logue will be sent by return mail, free of charge. 

The very best Catchers' Mitt made is the Spalding No. 9-0 Mitt, called 
the '"Three-and-Out." This is the ** last word " in Mitts and is certainly 
a masterpiece. It costs $8.00. The balance of the line, each with 
some particular merit, and the best for the money that can be bought, is 
as follows : 




Spalding " Professional " Catchers' Mitt, No. 8-0. 
Spalding " Scoop " Catchers' Mitt, No. S. . . . 
Spalding '* International " Catchers' Mitt, No. 7-OR. Black 
Spalding " Perfection " Catchers' Mitt, No. 7-0. 
Spalding " League Extra " Catchers' Mitt, No. 5-0. 
Spalding "League Special " Catchers' Mitt, No. 4-0. . 
Spalding " Decker Patent " Catchers' Mitt, No. OX. . 
Spalding " Decker Patent " Catchers' Mitt, No. 3-0. Black 
Spalding " Interstate " Catchers' Mitt, No. 0. 
Spalding " Decker Patent " Catchers' Mitt. No. OR. Black 
Spalding " Intercity " Catchers' Mitt, No. OA. 
Spalding " Semi-Pro " Catchers' Mitt, No. IR. 
Spalding " Amateur" Catchers' Mitt, No. lA. 
Spalding " Back-Stop " Catchers' Mitt, No. IC. . 
Spalding " Association " Catchers' Mitt, No. 2R. Black 
Spalding " Club " Catchers' Mitt, No. 2A. . . . 
Spalding " Practice " Catchers' Mitt, No. IB. 
Spalding " Interscholastic " Catchers' Mitt, No. 3R. . 
Spalding " Public School " Catchers' Mitt, No. 4. 
Spalding " Boys' Amateur, " Catchers' Mitt, No. 4R. , 
Spalding " Boys' Favorite " Catchers' Mitt, No. 4B. . 
Spalding " Boys' Delight " Catchers' Mitt, No. 5. 



$7.00 

10.00 

7.00 

6.00 

5.00 

4.00 

3.50 

3.50 

3.00 

2.50 

2.50 

2.00 

1.75 

1.50 

1.00 

1.00 

1.00 

.75 

.50 

.50 

.35 

.25 



SPALDING'S OFFICIAL BASE BALL GUIDE. 

BASEMEN'S MITTS 



"^/-». 




No. BXS. 
Spalding " Professional " Basemen's Mitt, No. CO. 
Spalding " Semi-Pro " Basemen's Mitt, No. CX. 
Spalding '| Amateur " Basemen's Mitt, No. CXR. 
Spalding " Amateur " Basemen's Mitt, No. CXS. 
Spalding " Double Play " Basemen's Mitt, No. DX. 
Spalding " League Jr." Basemen's Mitt, No. EX. 

MITTS FOR PITCHERS AN 

Made especially for Pitchers, but never- 
theless a very satisfactory style also for 
Basemen— in fact, the nearest approach 
to an all around Mitt that has ever been 
put out is Spalding's "League Extra" 
Pitchers' and Basemen's Mitt, No. IF. 
The face is made of special quality white 
buck, and the balance of Mitt of special 
brown calfskin; correctly padded and 
without hump ; laced all around and at 
thumb; strap-and- buckle fastening at back. 
It costs $4.00. The balance of the line of 
Spalding Fielders' Mitts is listed as follows : 

Spalding "League Special" Fielders' 
Mitt No. 2F, with molded brown calfskin 
face ; extra full thumb, laced ; leather 
lined and strap-and-buckle fastening at 
back. Each, $3.00. 

Spalding "League Special" Fielders' 
Mitt No. 3F, is made of specially tanned 
black calfskin ; padded with best felt ; 
reinforced and laced at thumb ; leather 
lined; strap-and-buckle fastening at 
back. Each, $3.00. 

Spalding "League Special" Fielders' 
Mitt No. 4F, is made of the very best and 
softest white tanned buckskin : the thumb 
and at wrist is extra well padded ; laced 
at thumb; leather lined ; strap-and-buckle 
fastening at back. Each, $3 . 00. 



If you are a first-baseman 
you can be sure that in 
Spalding's very complete line 
of Basemen's Mitts, which 
consists of ten different 
styles, you can secure just 
what you want. The Spald- 
ing Mitts are made in such a 
way that they are practically 
broken in as soon as one is 
put on the hand. That's why 
they are so popular. The 
list follows : 

Spalding "League Special," 

No. AX.^ . . $4.00 

Spalding "League Special," 

No. BX.^^ . . $4.00 

Spalding " League Special," 

No. BXR. . . $4.00 

Spalding " League Special," 

. $4.00 

3.00 

2.50 

2.00 

2.00 

1.50 

1.00 




SrALDlNQ'S OFFICIAL BASE BALL GUIDE. 

Spalding " P ofessional " Fielders' Mitt, No. 5F. . . . $2.00 

Spalding " S» mi-Pro " Fielders' Mitt, No. 6F 1.50 

Spalding "/ mateur" Fielders' Mitt, No. 7F 1.00 

Spalding "a^ mateur " Fielders' Mitt. No. 8F 1.00 

Spalding " League Jr." Fielders' Mitt, No. 9F. This is a very- 
popular Boj s' Mitt ; made of buck tanned leather, reinforced 

and laced at thumb ; well padded. .50 

Spalding " B( ys' Favorite," No. lOF. It is a Spalding Mitt and 

that tells the story. .25 



LEATHER LINED INFIELDERS' GLOVES 

The following line of Spalding Gloves is made with web of leather be- 
tween the thumb and first finger, which can be easily cut out if not re- 
quired. Each bears the Spalding Trade-Mark to show that they are the 
genuine article. Twenty-five different styles. 

Spalding " Professional " Infielders' Glove, No. PXL. 

Spalding " Intercollegiate " Infielders' Glove, No. 2X. 

Spalding " League Extra " Infielders' Glove, No. RXL. 

Spalding " Intercity " Infielders' Glove. No. 2XR. 

Spalding " International " Infielders' Glove, No. 2XS, made of 
finest quality velvet tanned buckskin, very popular with most 
of the prominent players 

Spalding " Professional Jr." Infielders' Glove, No. PEL. . 

The balance of the line of Spalding Gloves is appended : 
Spalding " Professional " Infielders' Glove, No. PX. On lines 

suggested by prominent players ; extra long to protect wrist. 
Spalding " League Extra " Infielders' Glove, No. -RX. Black 

calfskin, general design same as " Professional. ' ' 
Spalding " League Special " Infielders' Glove, No. XW. 
Spalding " Semi-Pro " Infielders' Glove, No. 3X. 
Spalding " Professional Jr." Infielders' Glove, No. PB. 
Spalding "Association" Infielders' Glove, No. 4X. 
Spalding " Amateur " Infielders' Glove, No. 3XR. 
Spalding " Club Special " Infielders' Glove, No. XL. . 
Spalding " Champion " Infielders' Glove, No. X, 



$3.50 
3.00 
3.50 
2.50 



2.50 
2.50 




3.00 

3.00 
2.50 
2.00 
2.00 
2.00 
2.00 
1.50 
1.50 
Spalding " Practice " Infield- 
ers' Glove, No. XS. $1.25 
Spalding " Interscholastic " 
Infielders' Glove. No. 13. $1.00 
Spalding " Regulation " In- 
fielders' Glove, No. 15. $1.00 
Spalding "Regulation" In- 
fielders' Glove, No. 15R. $1.00 
Spalding line of Infielders' 
Gloves for Juniors is a line 
that will appeal to the 
youngsters. These Gloves are 
identically the same as our 
high grade line and are made 
in such a way that they will 
last a boy indefinitely, imma- 
terial of how hard he uses 
them or what use they are 
put to. Spalding goods are 
not for show window pur- 
poses only — although their 
lines and " style " appeal to 
all players — but for rough 



SPALDING'S OFFICIAL BASE BALL GUIDE. 



Usage — and they always " stand up " under it — that's what the Spalding 
Trade-Mark means when placed upon any athletic article. 

The Spalding " Public School " Infielders' Glove, No. 12, is something 
new ; a full size ^love, of white velvet tanned leather, padded, 75 cents. 

The Spalding ' League Jr." Infielders' Glove, No. 16R, Men's size, 
black leather, lightly padded, leather lined. Each, 75 cents. 

Spalding " Junior " Infielders' Glove, No. 16. Full size ; made of white 
velvet tanned leather. Each, 50 cents. 

Spalding " Boys' Amateur " Infielders' Glove, No. 14. Youths' profes- 
sional style ; buck tanned white leather, padded, with inside hump and 
leather lined. Each, 50 cents. 

Spalding "Boys' Favorite" Infielders' Glove, No. 19, is made of buck 
tanned white leather, is lightly padded and size suitable for larger 
boys. Each, 25 cents. 

Spalding "Boys' Delight" Infielders' Glove, No. 18. Made of buck 
tanned white leather, padded, and with inside hump. Each, 25 cents. 

SHOES 

When it comes 
to outfitting a 
club with Shoes 
it is right 
there that A.. G. 
Spalding & Bros, 
are at home. The 
Spalding Shoes 
are acknowledged 
to be the best ex- 
amples of base 
ball footwear in 
America to-day. 
The best kanga- 
roo leather is used for tops, best white oak leather for soles, and the 
finest hand-made steel plates. Spalding Shoes are made in the Spalding 
factory and are "bench made," meaning that the Shoe is really made 
throughout by hand by a shoemaker working at a bench in the good old- 
fashioned way. An ill-fitting shoe is the worst handicap a player can 
have ; it annoys him, makes him slow and afraid to take chances, and in 
the end causes his release. Spalding's carry lasts of the leading players 
and their re-orders from season to season, are a tribute to the worth of 
the Spalding Shoe. 

The Spalding " Highest Quality " Shoe, No. 2-0, is the one that is uni- 
versally used by the best ball players ; it is hand-made throughout, is light 
and serviceable and makes a ball player feel like playing ball. Price, 
$7.00 per pair. 

The Spalding "Sprinting" Base Ball Shoe, No. 30-S, is made of selected 
kangaroo leather and built on the Spalding famous running shoe last, the 
last that has made Spalding's running shoes >famous. It is strong but 
light and fits the foot like a glove. The " Sprinting" costs $7 . 00 per pair. 

The Spalding " Featherweight " Base Ball Shoe, No. FW, is the lightest 
Base Ball Shoe ever made ; it is the shoe that the fast basemen like to 
wear. Owing to the lightness and fineness of its construction it is suit- 
able for the exacting demands of the fastest players, but is not intended 
for general use. $7 . 00 per pair. 

The Spalding " Club Special," No, 0, is made of carefully selected satin 
calfskin, and a very substantially constructed shoe in every respect. 
Price, $5.00 per pair. 

Spalding " Amateur Special," No. 35. This is the popular one with the 
amateur players ; it is of good quality calfskin, machine sewed ; has a 
long life and gives good service. It is a comfortable shoe and we specially 
recommend it to amateurs and minor leaguers. Per pair, $3.50. 




SPALDING'S OFFICIAL BASE BALL GUIDE. 

The Spalding " Junior " Shoe, No. 37. This is made with the same care 
as our high grade professional shoe, because if there is anything we make 
a special poin t of , i t is pleasing the boys, and they go to Spalding's because 
Spalding satisfies them. The Spalding "Junior" Shoe is made on the 
regular Base Ball Shoe last, and cannot be duplicated for the money in 
any part of the world. Price, $2 . 50 per pair. 

Managers and captains of Base Ball teams who wish a complete outfit 
should not fail to consult the nearest Spalding store manager. Addresses 
will be found on the inside front cover of this book. There the captain 
and manager can have expert knowledge, which it is possible only for 
A. G. Spalding & Bros, to place at his disposal ; this is worth a great deal 
when a captain or manager wishes to select a suitable team outfit. 



No boy who expects to be a good player can get along without the 
Spalding Athletic Library series on Base Ball. Mr. A. G. Spalding, who 
was the famous pitcher of the Champion Boston team of 1872, 1873, 1874, 
1875, and of the Chicago team of 1876, the first winners of the National 
League pennant, and who took the Chicago and All- America teams around 
the world in 1888-89, which created such a big sensation at that time, still 
retains his interest in the national game and recommends these books 
especially to the boys : 

No. 1 Spalding's Official Base Ball Guide. Price, 10 cents. 

No. lA Spalding's Official Base Ball Record. Price, 10 cents. 

No. 202 How to Play Base Ball. Price. 10 cents. 

No. 223 How to Bat. Price, 10 cents. 

No. 232 How to Run Bases. Price, 10 rents. 

No. 230 How to Pitch. Price, 10 cents. 

No. 229 How to Catch. Price, 10 cents. 

No. 225 How to Play First Base. Price, 10 cents. 

No. 226 How to Play Second Base. Price, 10 cents. 

No. 227 How to Play Third Base. Price, 10 cents. 

No. 228 How to Play Shortstop. Price, 10 cents. 

No. 224 How to Play the Outfield. Price, 10 cents. 

No. 231 How to Organize a Base Ball Club ; How to Organize 
a Base Ball League ; How to Manage a Base Ball 
Club ; How to Train a Base Ball Team ; How to Cap- 
tain a Base Ball Team ; How to Umpire a Game ; 
Technical Base Ball Terms. Price, 10 cents. 

No. 219 Ready Reckoner of Base Ball Percentages. Price, 10 cents. 

No. 310 Official Handbook of the National League. Price, 10 cents. 

No. 309 Official Minor League Base Ball Guide. Price, 10 cents. 



CAirriON BASE BAU BOYS 

Because of your youth and inexperience, advantage is frequently 
taken of you base ball boys, by the so called "Just as Good" dealer, who 
tries to palm off on you some of his "Just as Good" Base Ball goods, made 
especially for him by the "Just as Good" manufacturer, when you call 
for the Spalding goods. You are cautioned not to be deceived by this 
'■Just as Good" combination, for when you get onto the field you will 
find these " Just as Good " Balls, Bats, Mitts, etc., will not stand the wear 
and punishment of the genuine Spalding articles. Remember that 
Spalding goods are standard the world over, and are used by all the leading 
clubs and players. These "Just as Good " manufacturers endeavor to 
copy the Spalding styles, adopt the Spalding descriptive matter and Spald- 
ing list prices, and then try to see how very cheap and showy they can 
make the article, so the '* Just as Good "dealer can work off these imi- 
tations on the unsuspecting boy. 

Don't be deceived by the attractive 25 to 40 per cent, discount that 
may be offered you, for remember that their printed prices are arranged 
for the special purpose of misleading you and to enable the "Just as 
Good " dealer to offer you this special discount bait. This "discount" 
pill that the "Just as Good " dealer asks you to swallow is sugar coated 
and covered up by various catchy devices, that are well calculated to 
deceive the inexperienced boy, who will better understand these tricks of 
the trade as he grows older. Remember that all Spalding Athletic Goods 
are sold at the established printed prices, and no dealer is permitted to 
sell them at a greater or less price. Special discounts on Spalding Goods 
are unknown. Everybody is treated alike. This policy persistently 
adhered to makes it possible to maintain from year to year the high 
quality of Spalding Athletic Goods, which depend for their sale on Spald- 
ing Quality, backed by the broad Spalding Guarantee, and not on any 
deceiving device like this overworked and fraudulent " Discount " scheme 
adopted by all of the " Just as Good " dealers. 

Occasionally one of these " Just as Good " dealers will procure some 
of the Spalding well known red boxes, place them in a showy place on 
his shelves, and when Spalding Goods are called for, will take from these 
Spalding boxes one of the "Just as Good " things, and try to palm it off 
on the boy as a genuine Spalding article. When you go into a store and 
ask for a Spalding article, see to it that the Spalding Trade-Mark is on 
that article, and if the dealer tries to palm off on you something "Just as 
Good." politely bow yourself out and go to another store, where the gen- 
uine Spalding article can be procured. 

In purchasing a genuine Spalding Athletic article, you are protected 
by the broad Spalding Guarantee, which reads as follows : 

We Guarantee to each purchaser of an article hearing the 
Spalding Trade-Mark that such article will give satisfaction and 
c\reasonahle amount of service, when used for the purpose for 
which it was intended and under ordinary conditions and fair 
treatment. 

We Agree to repair or replace free of charge any such article 
which proves defective in material or workmanship : PRO VIDED 
such defective article is returned to us, transportation prepaid, 
during the season in which it was purchased, accompanied by 
the name, address and a letter from the user explaining the claim. 

A. G. SPALDING & BROS. 
Beware of the " Just as Good " manufacturer, who makes " pretty " 
Athletic Goods ( as if they were for use as an ornament ) at the expense 
of "quality," in order to deceive the dealer ; and beware of the substi- 
tute-dealer who completes the fraud by offering the " Just as Good " 
article, when Spalding 
Goods are asked for. 




i^/^/J^U< 



THE SPALDING TRADE-MARK 



PROTECTS 




THE 


CONSUMER 



PREVENTS 

FRAUDULENT 

SUBSTITUTION 



The Nondescript^ 
Manufactureri^/'^ 
says to the/V 
Dealer : f <j 

"Why pay 15 to 20 

per cent, more for«^» 

Spalding Trade Marked V^' 

Athletic Goods, when I 

am prepared to furnish '^^^" 

you "Just as good" articles^^^ 

for so much less, price""' 




The Substitute 
^^Dealer says 
to the Con- 
sumer : 

"We are just out 
of the Spalding 
■_— — artfcle asked for, 
V^but Kere is some- 
thing "Just as good" 
at 25 per cent. less 
price." 



Spalding Cautions the Consumer 

to make proper allowances for these "Jusr AS Gbo'l)''' ^manufacturers and, 
substitute-dealers' statements, but see to it tuat the Sp&lding Trade-litark. 
Is on, or attached, to each Spalding Athletic article, for without thl» 
Trade-Mark they are not genuine Spalding Goods, 

We are prompted to issue this Cauti'on to; users of Spalding's Athletic Goods, 
for the reason that many defective articles made and -sold by these "Just as. 
Good" manufacturers and dealers are returned to us as defective and un- 
satisfactory, and which the consumer, who has been thus deceived, has asked 
us to repair or replace under our broad Guarantee, .which reads as follows: 

^IVe Guarantee to each purchaser of an article bearing the 
Spalding Trade-Mark that such article will give satisfaction and 
a reasonable amount of service, when used for the purpose for which 
it was Intended and under ordinary conditions and fair treiitment. 

IVe Ag^ee to repair or replace free of charge any such article 
which proves defective tai material or -workmanship; PROVIDED 
such defective article U returned to, us, transportation prepaid, 
the season in which It was purchased, accompanied by the 
id a letter from the user explaining the claim. 



Beware of the "Just as Good" maimfacturer. who makes " appearance," first 
and 'Quality* secondary, in order to deceive the dealer; and beware of the 
substitute-dealer, who completes the fraud by offering the consumer the 
" Just as Good " article when Spalding's Goods are asked for. 




THE SPALDING TRADEMARK 



PROTECTS 

THE 
CONSUMER 



PREVENTS 

FRAUDULENT 

SUBSTITUTION 



THE SPALDING^^TRADE-MARK 

GUARANTEES MMbl ACCEPT NO 
r^ QUALITY ^i::^ SUBSTITUTE ^>^ 



SPALDING 

Official National League Bali 

Is the Standard of the World 

It is the Original League Ball It is the Official League BaJi 

It is the Universally Adopted League Ball 

It is the Best League Ball 

IT HAS BEEN FORMALLY ADOPTED AS THE 

Otf ieial Ball oi the National League for over 30 Years 

It has also been adopted as the Official Ball for all Championship GameS 
by the following Professional Leagues : 

'INTERSTATE LEAGUE for 9 yiars 
I NEW YORK STATE LEAGUE for 11 year^ 
CENTRAL LEAGUE for 5 years 
COTTON STATES LEAGUE for 5 yean] 
INDIANA. ILLINOIS and IOWA 

LEAGUE for 7 mUT^ 
.and by 22 other Professional Leagues that have adopted the Spalding 
Official National League Ball from 1 to 4 years. 

THE' SpardTng Official National League Ball was first adopted by the National League in 1878, andj 
is the only ball that has been used in Championship League Games since that time. In tha 
recent great World's Championship Games in Chicago between the Chicago Nationals and the Detroiti 
Americans the Spalding Official National League Ball was used: 

IN addition to the different American adoptions, the Spalding Official National League Ball hasTbeeii! 
made the official ball by the governing Base Ball Associations of Mexieo, Cuba, Canada, Australia^ 
iSouth Africa, Great Britain, Philippine Islands, Japan, and, in fact, wherever Base Ball is played. 
The Spalding Official National League Ball has received this universal adoption because of its well 
established reputation for uniformity and high quality, but the special object of such adoptions, fromi 
the players' standpoint, is to secure absolute uniformity in a ball, that will prevent unfair "jockeying" 
with an unknown ball, and make National and International Base Ball contests possible, and at that 
same time make the records of players of value, and uniform throughout the world, which can onlj» 
be secured by standardizing one well known ball. 



EASTERN LEAGUE for 20 years. 
NE W ENGL A ND LEAGUE fo r 20 years 
NORTHERN LEAGUE for 5 years 
WESTERN ASSOCIATION for 11 years 
PACIFIC COAST LEAGUE for 5 years 



The Spalding Official National League Ball 

is used by Yale, Harvard, Princeton and all prominent college teams. The soldiers and sailors in thd, 

United States Army and Navy use it exclusively. In fact, the Spalding League 

Ball is in universal lise wherever Base Ball is played. 

OTice in a' while a minor league will experiment for a short time with some other "ball, "but Invariablyr 

returns to the Spalding Official National League Ball, .which has now become universally recognize* 





The Standard of the World 








Communications addressed to 




Montreal 
Canada 


A. G. SPALDING & BROS. 

in any of the following cities will receive attention 


London 
England 




For street numbers see inside front cover of this book. 




New York 
Bnfialo 
Syracuse 


Boston 
Pittsburg 
Baltimore 


PhUadelphia 
Washington 
New Orleans 


Chicago 

Cleveland 

Detroit 


Cincinnati 

Kansas City 

St. Lonis 


San Francisco 1 

Denver 1 

MlnneapoUs | 



Prices in effect JanvMry 6, 1908. Subject to change without notice. 



THE SPALDINGi^'%rR A D E - M A R K 



GUARANTEES 
^^ QUALITY 



ACCEPT NO I 

SUBSTITUTE 4^^! 




THE SFAI.DING OFFICIAIi NATIONAI. LEAGUE BAIX 

The OHicial ball of the game for oyer 30 years. Adopted by the National 
League in 1878, and the only bill 
used in Championship games 
since. Each ball wrapped in tm- 
foil, packed in a separate box, 
and sealed in accordance with the 
latest League regulations. War- 
ranted to last a full game when 
used under ordinary conditions. 
No. 1. Each. $1.50^ 



Official National licague Jr. 

Made with horse hide cover, and In every respect 
same as our Official National League Ball No. 1, 
except slightly smaller in size. Especially designed 
for junior clubs ( composed of boys under IG years of 
age) and all games in which this ball is used will 
be recognized as legal games. Warranted to last 
a full game when used under ordinary conditious. 

No. Bl. Eacb» $1.00« 



Montreal 
Canada 



Communications addressed to 

A.G.SPALDING & BROS. 

in any of the following cities will receive attention 
For street numbers see inside front cover of this book. 



London 
England 



New York 
Boffalo 
Syracnse 



Boston 
Pittsburg 
Baltimoi-P 



Philadelphia 
Washington 
New Orleans 



Chicago 

Cleveland 

Detroit 



Cincinnati 

Kansas City 

St. Louis 



San Francisco 

Denver 
Minneapolis 



Pficea in effect January 6. 1908. Subject to change without notice. 



THE SPALDING^^^TRADE-MARK 

GUARANTEES |OPjMl!bJ ACCEPT NO 
r> QU ALITY ^%^; ^ ::^ SUBSTITUTE ^ ^ 




Spalding Doable SeamLeagueBall 



Spalding National Association Ball 

Second only in quality to the Spald- 
ing Official National League Ball. 
Made in exact accordance with the 
Official rules. Best horse hide cover, 
rubber center, wound with all wool 
yarn. Warranted to last a full game. 
No. NA. Each, $1.25 



Made with same care and of same 
material as the Spalding Official 
National League Tall. The double 
stitch is used, making it doubly 
secure against ripping. Warran- 
ted to last a full game. 
No. O. Each, $1.50 

1 No. L3, Semi-Pro League $1.00 
Regulation size and weight and 
superior to any of the various 
imitations of the Spalding OfB- 

cial National League Ball. 
I No. L4, City League Each. 75c 
Full size and weight.well made, 
excellent for general practice. 
I No. B2. National Association Jr. 
Same as National Association 
No. NA, only slightly smaller, 
Each, 75c. 

I No. B3, Public School League. 50c 

A well made junior ball; splen- 

I did for practice by boys' teams. 

Send for Spalding new complete Catalogue of Base Ball Goods. 

Mailed Free. 





Montreal 
Canada 



Communications addressed to 

A. G. SPALDING & BROS. 

in any of the following cities will receive attention 
For street numbers see inside front cover ol this book. 



London 
England 



New York 
Buffalo 
Syracuse 



Boston 
Pittsburg 
Baltimore 



Philadelphia 
Washington 
New Orleans 



Chicago Cincinnati 

Cleveland Kansas City 

Detroit I St. Louis 



San Francisco 

Denver 
Minneapolis 



Hices in etffect January 6, 1908, Subject to change without notice. 



THE SPALDINGif, 

GUARANTEES loPAiD! 
-, QUALITY ^"" 



TRADE-MARK 

ACCEPT NO 
SUBSTIT UTE 4^ \ 



SP^ 



S^rofessioTud 






'inffofthe 



^/amond 



SP^i 



\Xiveli/!^ounder\ 



^ro/e, 



esstonaf 

SP^}% 
[^oysyfmafeur] 



Spalding Professional 

Selected horse hide cover; full size ball. Made of 
carefully selected material and warranted first- 
class quality. Put up in a separate box and sealed. 

No. 2. Each, 50c. 
Spalding King of the Diamond 

This ball is full size, made of good material and 

horse hide cover. Put up in a separate box and 

sealed. 

No. 5. Each, 25c. 
Spalding Lively Bounder 

Horse hide cover. A very lively ball; the inside is 
all rubber, making it the liveliest ball ever offered 
at the price. Put up in a separate box and sealed. 

No. 10. Each, 25c. 
Spalding Junior Professional 

Slightly under regular size. Horse hide cover and 

is very lively. Carefully made and a perfect boys' 

size ball. Put up in a separate box and sealed. 

No. 7B. Each, 25c. 
Spalding Boys' Favorite Ball 

A good boys' lively ball, boys' size; two-piece 

cover; each ball trade-marked. Packed one dozen 

balls in a box. 

No. 12. Each, 10c. 
Spalding Boys' Amateur Ball 

Nearly regulation size and weight. The best ball 
for the money on the market; each ball trade- 
marked. One dozen balls in a box. 

No. 11. Each, 10c. 
Spalding Bocket Ball 

This is a good bounding ball. Boys' size. The best 

5-cent, two-piece cover ball on the market; one 

dozen balls in a box. 

No. 13. Each,5c. 



Montreal 
Canada 



Communications addressed to 

A. G. SPALDING & BROS. 

in any of the following cities will receive attention 
For street numbers see inside front cover of this book. 



London 
England 



New York 
Boffalo 
Syracnse 



Boston 
Pittsburg 
Baltimore 



Philadelphia 
Washington 
New Orleans 



Chicago 

Cleveland 

Detroit 



Cincinnati 

Kansas City 

St. Louis 



San Francisco 

Denver 
Minneapolis 



JV»C€« in effect January 6, 1908. Subject to change without notice. 



THE SPALDING^:5^TRADE-IV1ARK 

GUARANTEES TOaIbi ACCEPT NO 

*-^ QUALITY ^^>::^^::^ substitute ^>^ 



I 

Players* jg 
Autograph ^ 
Bats 



B THE PAST tfllRTY VEAK# Vt SIBM our Base ^H 
Bat Factory was established, we have turned out special 
model bats to suit the leading players of the prominent 
professional leagues, and our records will show hun> 
dreds of different bats made in accordance with the 
tdeaa of the individual player, many of whom have been 
league record-makers. \ j 

The models that have been adopted have bsen duplicated 
by ui from time to time as they have required additional bats, 
and in hundreds of cases we have been requested to furnish to 
other players duplicate bats that have been madQ for and usedf 
by well-known players. 

In order to satisfy the ever-increasing demwd from our 
customers for bats of the same models as used by 'eading play- 
ers, we have obtained permission from many of the leading 
batters of the country to include in our line of high-grade bats 
these "Players' Autograph" bats, bearing their signature. 
Space will not permit us to include a description of all the 
. various models, but the following models have been selected as 
examples of what we are producing in this special "PIay«r»* 
Autograph" Bat Department: 



Ant 



iiloflraph Model 48 



This IS a very targe Bat yvilli af 
thick handle Bats supplied 
eigh less than 43 nor 



31 



'^yC^^^/^-^*^ 



is also a targe Bat, almost iRc 

length as the Chance Mocftl. 

ith much less wood, especially 

'\ in the handle part of the Bat. ffafs 

IDh Model ^'"PP''*^ *'" "°* w«'gh less tRan 



Antograph Model. 



I different shaped Bat than 
rither of above, somewhat shorter, 
nedium thick handle and rountfcd 
!nd. Bats supplied will not weigh 



^Q 



Antograph Model 



Is of good bulk, with a 
thick handle. Bats sup- 
not weiRh less than 4P 



j^ A short Bat with 

(y U Anlonraph Model 



small handle, 
alance of Bat. 
lot weigh less 



^^<-LA^ 



This model and the Chance Bat 
touch the two extremes in models 
and weights used by the great ma- 
jority of prominent professional 
players. The Keeler Model is 
short and has fairly thin handle 
Bats supplied will not weigh less 
than 36 nor over 39 ounces. 



Chuea Com Iretiulus State liigiln Iceler 

•■•4d Hold li,4<l IIMel Hold lladd 

No. PA. Plain oil finish. Price, $1.0O Each. 

rADDFCPAIVriFIVrF :b. '^ y°^ '^'v^ any particular model bat, and will describe the bat you require, 
VUnnCiarvilVEillVEi ry the length, weight and full description of same, and address any of our 
branch stores, the matter will be taken up, with the hope of furnishing our customers with the exact model 
and style and weight of bat that they require. This will come under our Special Players' Autograph Bat 
Department This entire department is looked after by the manager of our Professional League Base Ball 
Department, who is familiar with most of the types of models used by the leading players and to whom will 
be referred any unusual model. A» these bat» are made to order (mly, at least two weela' time may be required. 



Montreal 
Canada 



^ Communications addressed to 

A. G. SPALDING & BROS. 

in any of the following cities will receive attention 
For street numbers see inside front cover of this book. 



London 
England 



New York 
Bnffalo 
Syracnse 



Boston 
Pittsburg 
Baltimore 



PhUadelphia 
Washington 
New Orleans 



Chicago 
Cleveland 



Cincinnati 

Kansas City 

St. Louis 



San Francisco 

Denver 
Minneapolis 



Pricea in effect Janwury 6, 1908, Sitbject to change without notice. 



THE SPALDING^p^^TRADE-MARK 

GUARANTEES ifeflbl ACCEPT NO ^ 
f^ QUALITY ^fe ^ SUBSTITUTE <- 



GOLD MEDAL MECORD MUSHROOM TRADE MARK 

SPALDING GOLD MEDAL BATS 

No. GM. Plain, white wax finish. . . . Each. $1.00 
No. GMT. Taped, white wax finish. . . . '[ 1.00 
No. GMP. "Professional," special dark finish. . " 1.00 
No. GBIB. Boys', plain, white wax finish. . . " ,50 
SPALDING MUSHROOM BATS 

No. M. Plain, special finish Each. $1.00 

No. MT. Taped, taped handle. . , . . " 1.00 
SPALDING RECORD BATS 

No. SR. Plain oil finish Each, $1.00 

SPALDING TRADE MARK BATS 
No. 3-OT. Wagon Tongue, taped, special finish. Each, $ .50 



BOVSV 



No. 3-0. Wagon Tongue, plain handle. 
No. OXT. ^''Axletree," tape wound handle. . || 
No. OX. "Axletree." plain handle. ' . . " 
No. 3X. Junior League.plain, spotted burning. 
No. 3-OB. Boys', Wagon Tongue, taped, special finish. ] | 
No. 2XB. Boys', good quality ash, varnished. . 



For 
complete 
descriptions 
and illus- 
trations ot 
SPALDING 
BATS, 
and all 
Accessories 

lor 
BASE BALL 

see 

Spalding's 

Base Ball 

Catalogue 

lor 1908. 

Mailed free 







nnmTnnTiinatioTis addrflflsed to 






Montreal 
Canada 


A. G. SPALDING & BROS. 

in any of the following cities will receive attention 


Enjlan"d 




For street numbers see inside front cover of this book. 




New York 
Buffalo 
Syracose 


Boston 
Pittsborg 
Baltimore 


Philadelphia 
Washington 
New Orleans 


Chicago 

Cleveland 

Detroit 


Cincinnati 

Kansas City 

St. Louis 


San Francisco II 

Denver 
MinneapoUs | 



Prices in effect January 6, 1908. Subject to change vnthout notice. 



THE SPALDING^^^TRADE-MARK 

GUARANTEES llPMbl ACCEPT NO 
r^ QUALITY Xfcl^if SUBSTITUTE ^ 






Spa?ui:;g Base Ball Catchers' Milts 
Spalding "Three and Out" afiooq 
No 9-0. Molded Face. A master- 
piece of care and attention. Only 
leather perfectly tanned is used; 
best hair felt padding; no seams 
or rough places. . Each, $8.00 
Spalding "Professional" 
No. 8-0. Face of white buck, special- 
ly selected and best quality. Made 
in accordance with ideas of the 
best professional catchers. $7.C0 

I Pat. May tj.v_i.is "o__^ ». (Ref?- U. S. 

8, 1900 J Spalding Scoop Pat. on.) 
No. S. An entirely new idea. The 
"scoop" is stiffened with sole lea- 
ther, fully protecting ends of the 

fingers Each, $10.00 

Spalding "International" 
No. 7-OR. Superior quality black 
calf skin, bestpadding. Each, $7.00 
Spalding "Perfection" 
No. 7-0. Bestqualitybrowncalfskin 
throughout. . . . Each, $6.00 
Spalding "League Extra" 
No. 5-0. Special drab tanned buck, 
very soft and pliable. Each, $5.00 
Spalding "League Special" 
No. 4-0. Face of special gray tanned 

buck Each, $4.00 

Spalding "Decker Patent" 
No. OX. Face of velvet tanned 
brown leather, heavy piece of sole 
leather on back for protection to 

fingers Each, $3.50 

No. 3-0. Good quality black calf- 
skin; heavy piece of sole leather 
on back for extra protection to 

fingers Each, $3.50 

All Styles made in Rights and Lefts. 

For full descriptions and illustra 

tions of Catchers' Mitts see new 

Spalding Base Ball Catalogue. 

Mailed free. 



..^^^^■= 







□ommunications addressed to 


=^ 




Montreal 
Canada 


A, G. SPALDING & BROS. 

in any of the following cities will receive attention 


London 
England 




For street numbers see inside front cover of this book. 




New York 
1 Buffalo 
^Syracuse 


Boston 
Pittsburg 
Baltimore 


PhUadelphia 
Washington 
New Orleans 


Chicago 

Cleveland 

Detroit 


Cincinnati 

Kansas City 

St. Louis 


San Francisco 

Denver 
MInneapoUs 



Prices in effect January 6, 1908. Subject to change without notice. 



THE SPALDINGi 

GUARANTEES |! 
>^ QUALITY ^ 



..ii*»^ 



^^TRADE-MARK 

Mbl ACCEPT NO 
"'"•'^ SUBSTITUTE c^| 



SPALDING INTERSTATE" CATCHERS' MITT 

No. 0. Prof, model, face velvet tanned brown leather, 
back selected buck, patent lace back. Each, $3.00 
SPALDING "DECKER PATENT" CATCHERS' MITT 
No. OR. Black leather, heavy sole leather finger pro 
tector on back, patent lace back. . Each. $2.50 
SPALDING "INTER-CITY " CATCHERS' MITT 
No. OA. Brown velvet tanned leather, patent lace 
back, reinforced and laced at thumb. Each, $2.50 
SPALDING "SEMI-PRO" CATCHERS' MITT 
No. IR. Black leather, patent lace back. Each. $2.00 

SPALDING "AMATEUR " CATCHERS' MITT 
No. lA. Face and finger piece of gray buck, perspira- 
tion proof, very durable, patent lace back. Each, $1.75 
SPALDING "BACK-STOP" CATCHERS' MITT 
No. IC. Good quality special tanned pearl colored lea- 
ther face, patent lace back. . . Each, $1.50 
SPALDING "ASSOCIATION' MITT 
No. 2R. Black leather face and finger-piece, gray buck 
sides and back.very durable, pat. lace back. Ea., $1.00 
SPALDING "CLUB " MITT 
No. 2A. Extra quality white buck face and finger- 
piece, well padded, patent lace back. Each, $1.00 
SPALDING "PRACTICE" MFTT 
No. IB. Face and back special tanned brown buck, 
sides of firm leather, well padded. . Each, $1,00 
SPALDIN 'INTERSCHOLASTIC- MITT 
No. 3R. Large size, good quality black leather. Ea., 75c. 

SPALDING "PUBLIC SCHOOL" MITT 
No. 4. Large size, improved style, face and back of 
special tanned buck, extra heavily padded. Each, 50c. 
SPALDING "BOYS' AMATEUR" MnT 
No. 4R. A very well made junior size mitt, black leather 
face and back and white side strip. . Each, 50c. 
SPALDING "BOYS' FAVORTTE" MITT 
No. 4B. A most popular mitt, face and back of special 
tanned buck, well padded. . . . Each, 35c. 
SPALDING "BOYS' DELIGHT" MTFT 
No. 5. Improved style, face and back made of special 
tanned buck, well padded. . . . Each, 25c. 

ALL STYLES MADE IN RIGHTS AND LEFTS 

For complete descriptions and illustrations of Mitts, 
see Spalding's Base Ball Catalogue. Mailed Free, 



Montreal 
Canada 



Communications addressed to 

A. G. SPALDING & BROS. 

in any of the following cities will receive attention 

For street numbers see inside front cover of this book. 



London 
England 



New York 
Boffalo 
Syracuse 



Boston 
Pittsburg 
Baltimore 



PhUadelphia 
Washington 
New Orleans 



Ctiicago 

Cleveland 

Detroit 



Cincinnati 

Kansas City 

St. Louis 



San Francisco 

Denver 
Minneapolis 



" Prices in effect January 6, 1908, SH^ject to change without notice. 



THE SPALDING^^^TRADE-MARK 

GUARANTEES lOMlbi ACCEPT NO 
r > QUALITY ^^P#^ SUBSTITUTE ^ ^ 



SPALDING BASEMEN'S MITTS 







Spalding "League Special" No. AX Basemen's Milt 

No. AX. Special professional model. Finest quality 
white tanned buckskin face, back and lining; lacing 
all around and at thumb. . . . Each, $4.00 
Spalding "League Special" No. BX Basemen's Mitt 

No. BX. Fine selected and specially tanned brown calf- 
skin face, back and lining; lacing all around. $4.00 
Spalding "League Special" No. BXR Basemen's Mitt 

No. BXR. Specially selected finest quality black calf- 
skin face, back and lining; lacing all around. $4.00 
Spalding "League Special" No. BXS Basemen's Mitt 

No. BXS. Special professional model. Finest selected 
brown calfskin face, back and lining; lacing all 
around and at thumb. . . . Each, $4.00 

Spalding "Professional" Basemen's Mitt 

No. CO. Very durable olive calfskin face, back and 
lining. Padded and laced all around. Each, $3.00 
Spalding "Semi-Pro" Basemen's Mitt 

No. ex. Face of specially tanned slate-color leather; 
back of firm tanned brown leather; extra well pad- 
ded. Strap-and- buckle fastening. . Each, $2.50 
Spalding "Amateur" Basemen's Mitt (Black) 

No. CXR. Black calfskin face, black leather back and 
lining. Well padded, no hump. . . Each, $2.00 
Spalding "Amateur" Basemen's Mitt 

No. CXS. Brown buck leather face, brown tanned lea- 
ther back and lining. Well padded, no hump. $2.00 
Spalding "Double Play" Basemen's Mitt 

No. DX. Men's size. Oak tan specially selected leather, 
laced all around. Very easy fitting. Each, $1.50 
Spalding "League Jr." Basemen's Mitt 

No. EX. Good quality white leather, laced all around. 
Suitably padded. Will give good service. Each, $1.00 

ALL STYLES MADE IN RIGHTS AND LEFTS 




/J 



Montreal 
Canada 



Communications addreSBed to 

A. G. SPALDING & BROS. 

in any of the following cities will receive attention 
For street numbers see inside front cover of this book. 



London 
England 



New York 
Buffalo 
Syracuse 



Boston 
Pittsburg 
Baltimore 



PhUadelphia 
Washington 
New Orleans 



Chicago 

Cleveland 

Detroit 



Cincinnati 

Kansas City 

St. Louis 



San Francisco 

Denver 
Minneapolis 



Prices in effect Janvury 6, 1908. Subject to change without notice. 



THE SPALDING^^TRADE-MARK 

GUARANTEES PMNGJ ACCEPT NO 
^^ ' QUALITY ^fcii^ SUBSTITUTE ^ 






SPAIibiNG FIELDERS' MITTS 

Spalding "League Extra" Pitchers' and Basemen's Mitt 

No IF. The nearest approach yet made to an all around 
mitt. Face of special quality white buck, balance 
special brown calfskin. Correctly padded; no hump^ 
Laced all around and at thumb . Each. $4.00 
Spalding "league Special" Fielders Mitt 
No . 2F. Molded brown calfskin face; extra f "» t^^^^^i 
laced; leather lined . . . • , Each.. $3.00 
Spalding "league Special" Fielders Mitt 
No. 3F. Specially tanned black calf skin; best felt pad- 
ding; laced at thumb; leather lined. ^ Each. $3.00 
Spalding "league Special " Fielders Mitl 
No 4F. Very best and softest white tanned buckskin; 
thumb and at wrist extra well padded; laced thumb; 
leather lined. . . '„',', £^^' ^^'^ 

Spalding "Professional Fielders Mitt 
No. 5F. Specially tanned drab leather well Padded 
with fine felt; leather lined, carefully finished, laced 
thumb. Strap-and-buckle fastening at back. $i.00 
Spalding "Semi-Pro" Fielders' Mitt 
No 6F. Face of white tanned buckskin, brown leather 
back; leather lined; laced thumb. . Each. $1.50 
Spalding "Amateur" Fielders' Mitt 
No. 7F. Good brown cape leather, well padded, leather 
lined; reinforced and iaced at the thumb. Strap-and- 
buckle fastening at back. - . „.• .„,^ach. $1.00 
Spalding "Amateur" Fielders Mitt (Black) 
No. 8F. Good quality black tanned leather; well pad- 
ded. leather lined; reinforced and laced at thumb^ 
Strap-and-buckle fastening at back. ,- Each. $1.00 
Spalding "league Jr. " Fielders' Mitt 
No. 9F. A very popular boys'mitt; buck tanned leather, 
well padded; reinforced and laced at thumb. 50c. 
Spalding "Boys' Favorite Mitt ^ , , 
No. lOF. Special tanned buck, well Padded and sub- 
stantially made; laced at thumb. . Each. 25c. 

ALL STYLES MADE IN RIGHTS AND LEFTS 

Complete 
descriptions 

and prices 
in Spalding's 
Base Ball 
Catalogue. 
Mailed free. 




Communications addressed to 

A. G. SPALDING & BROS. 

inanvTf the following cities will receive attention 
^Fo'^ street numbers Beeiimde^^ book. 



London 
England 



Boston I PhUadelphia 
Pittsburg Washington 
Baltimore! New Orleans 



Chicago 

Cleveland 

Detroit 



Cincinnati 

Kansas City 

St. louis 



San Francisco 

Denver 
Minneapolis 



PHce« in effect January 6. ms. Subject to change without notice. 



THE SPALDING^^TRADE-MARK 

GUARANTEES lolMlbl ACCEPT NO 



GUARANTEES 
g -^ QUA LITY^ 





Spalding "Prolessional" Infielders' Glove 

No. PXL. Best ever made, finest buckskin, 
heavily padded at edges, no heel pad, de- 
sign from prof's ideas, leather lined. $3.50 

Spalding "Intercollegiate" Infielders' Glove 

No. 2X. Selected velvet tanned buckskin, 
finest felt padding leather lined. Ea..$3.00 

Spalding "League Extra" Infielders' Glove 

No.RXL. Absolutely highest quality. Black 
calf, material, etc., like PXL. Each $3.50 

Spalding "Inter-City" Infielders' Glove 

No. 2XR. Prof, style, padded little finger and 
extra large thumb, leather lined. Ea .$2.50 

Spalding, ** International " Infielders* Glove 

No.'JXS. Best vel. tanned buckskin, popiilar 
with professionals, leather lined. Ea.,$2 50 

Spalding "Professional Jr." Infielders' Glove 

No. PBL. Best youths' glove, made like PXL, 
professional style, leather lined Ea..$2.50 

Spalding "Professional" Infielders* Glove 

No. PX, Finest buckskin, heavily padded 
around edges and into little finger. $3.00 

Spalding "League Extra" Infielders* Glove 

No. RX Black calfskin, quality and design 
same as PX, highesi quality. Each. $3,00 

Spalding "League Special" Infielders' Glove 

No. XW. Specially tannedcalfskin.bcLt felt 
no heel pad, extra long to protect wrist. $2 50 

Spaldi g "Semi-Pro" Infielders' Glove 

No. 3X Good quality oil tanned lea,, special 

fluisii. no heel pad, correctly padded. $2.00 

Sp Iding "Professional Jr." Infielders' Glove 

N PB Youths'. Material,etc.,as PX $2.00 

Spalding "Association" Infielders' Glove 
No 4X. White buck, no heel pad. Ea.,$2 00 

Spalding "Amateur" Infielders* Glove 
No 3XR Black lea , extra large thumb, $2.00 

Spaldrig "Club Special" Infielders' Glove 

No XL White buck, no heel pad. Ea.,$l 50 

Spalding "Champion" Infielders* Glove 

No. X. White buck, leatherlined. Ea $1 50 

A'.L STYLES MADE IN RIGHTS AND LEFTS 



Montreal 
Canada 



Communications addressed to 

A. G. SPALDING & BROS. 

in any of the following cities will receive attention 
For street numbers see inBide front cover of this book. 



London 
England 



New York 
Buffalo 
Syracuse 



Boston 
Pittsburg 
Baltimore 



PhUadelphia 
Washington 
New Orleans 



Chicago 

Cleveland 

Detroit 



Cincinnati 

Kansas City 

St. Louis 



San Francisco 

Denver 
Minneapolis 



Prices in effect January 6, 1908. Subject to change without notice. 



THE SPALDING^^TRADE-MARK 

GUARANTEES |SP»| ACCEPT NO 
QUALITY v^ -^ 



^'^-*^"""= 



No. 



Spalding "Practice" Infielders' Glove 

XS. Good QTiality wliite velvet tanned leather, 
well finished; inside hump . . Eaeh. $1 25 

Spalding " Intcrscholastic " Infielders' Glove 

No. 13. White velvet tanned leather, correctly pad- 
ded and very durable. . . Each, $1.00 
Spalding "Regulation" Infielders* Glove 

No. 1.5. Brown tanned leather, correctly padd 3d and 

well m de; leather lined . . , Each $1.00 

Spalding " Regulation " Infielders* Glove 

No. 1.5R. Black tanned leather leather lined. $1.00 

Spalding "Public School" Infielders* Glove 

No. 1-. £\ill size, white velvet tan leather. Ea.,75c. 

Spalding " League Junior " Infielders* Glove 
No. 16x1. Black leather, lightly padded, but extra 

long, leather lined Each. 75c. 

Spalding " Junior " Infielders* Glove 
No.lfi. Full size, white vel. tan lea., ex. l<Hig. Ea.. 50c 

Spalding "Boys* Amateur" Infielders' Glove 

No. 14. Youths' prof, style; buck tan white leather. 

padded, inside hump, leather lined. Each. 50c, 

Spalding "Boys* Favorite'* Infielders* Glove 

No, 19 Made of buck tanned white leather, lightly 
padded and size suitable for larger boys. Each, 25c, 
Spalding "Boys* Delight'* Infielders* Glove 
No. 18. Made of buck tanned white leather, pad- 
ded and with inside hump. . . Each, 25c. 
ALL STYLES MADE IN RIGHTS AND LEFTS 




Spalding Inflated Body Protectors 

We were the first to introduce an inflated body protector, made 
under the Gray patent, and the method used then has been re- 
tained in the improved style, with the addition of a special break 
at the bottom which makes it more pliable and convenient. Made 

of best rubber, inflated with air. 
No. o 0. Full protection; large size. Covering of special imported 
material, and in every particular the best protector made. $8.00 
N 2-0. Full protection: large size. Best grade covering and a 

very durable protector • Each, $6.00 

No. 0. League. Same in every particular as v e have been supply- 
ing for years to most of the prominent League catchers. $5.00 
No. 1. Amateur. Quality and design same as we have been fur- 
nishing for years past ; full size. . • , • - • i^^Mt'XX 
No. M. Interscholasti \ Full size and very well made. Each, 9SM 
No. 2. Youths'. Well made and good size. . . Each, $2.50 

Spalding Umpires* Body Protectors 
Best quality. Give length and width required when orderiiig. 
No L Large size. Ea.. $10.00 | No. S. Special design. Ea.. $10.00 
Svaldinp Base Ball Catalogue Mailed Free. 



Montreal 
Canada 



Communications addressed to 

A. G. SPALDING & BROS. 

in any of tho following cities will receive attention 
For street numbers see inside front cover of thin book^ 



London 
England 



Nevy York 
Buffalo 
Syracuse 



Boston 
Pittsburg 
Baltimore 



PhUadelphia 
Washington 
New Orleans 



Chicago 

Cleveland 

Detroit 



Cincinnati 

Kansas City 

St. Louis 



San Francisco 

Denver 
Minneapolis 



Prices in effect January 5, 1908. Subject to change without notice. 



THE SPALDINGi^^^TRADE-MARK 

GUARANTEES ilP»l ACCEPT NO 
g^ QUALITY ^^:::^ SUBSTITUTE_$-v 




tilt 

>■■« 




"Sun Protecting" Mask 

No. 4-0. Finest steel wire, extra heavy 

black finish. Molded leather chin-strap; 

hair-filled pads, including forehead pad 

and special elastic head-band. $4.00 

*' Special Soldered** Mask 

6-0. Each crossing of the wire very heavily 

soldered. Black finish, continuous padding on 

sides; detachable cloth sun-shade. Each, $4.00 

"Neck Protecting** Mask 

No. 3-0. Affords absolute protection to the neck 

without interfering. Finest steel wire; pads 

hair-filled Each, $3.50 

"National Association** Mask 
No. 2-0. Extra heavy best annealed steel wire: 
hair-filled padding . . . Each, $2.50 
"Semi-Pro** I^eague Mask 
No. 0-P. Extra heavy best annealed steel wire. 
continuous side pads, leather . Each, $2.50 
"Regulation Licague** Masks 
No. OX. Men's size, heavy annealed steel wire. 
Improved leather covered pads. Each, $2.00 
No. OXB. Same as OX, for youths. Each, $1.75 
No. 0. Men's, heavy annealed steel wire. " $1.50 

"Amateur** No. A Mask 

No. A. Men's size, black enameled steel wire, 

leather covered pads, forehead pad. Each,$1.00 

"Boys* Amateur** NOo B Mask 

No. B. Same as No. A, for youths. Each. $1.00 

"Regulation** No. I. Mask 
No. L. Men's, bright wire, same as "Amateur 
No. A," no head or chin-piece. Each, 75c. 
"Youths* *» No. C Mask 
No.C. Bright wire, well made, 
leather covered pads. 50c. 
o. D. Bright wire, good 
mask for boys. Each, 25c. 
Umpires* Mask 
No. 5-0. Has neck-protecting 
attachment and special ear 
protection, nicely padded; 
no heavier than the regu- 
lar style. . Each, $5.00 








Montreal 
Canada 



Communications addressed to 

A. G. SPALDING & BROS. 

in any of the following cities will receive attention 
For street numbers see inside front cover of this book. 



London 
England 



New York 
Bnffalo 
Syracuse 



Boston 
Pittsburg 
Baltimore 



Philadelphia 
Washington 
New Orleans 



Chicago 

Cleveland 

Detroit 



Cincinnati 

Kansas City 

St. Louis 



San Francisco 

Denver 
Minneapolis 



PrioeB in effect JanxMry 6, 1908. Subject to change without notice^ 



THE SPALDING 

GUARANTEES ' 
^r^ QUALITY 



^TRADE-MARK 

lb| ACCEPT NO 
W SUBSTITUTE €^ 




Spalding base Ball shoes 

Spalding Highest Quality Shoe 

No. 2-0. Hand made throughout; specially 
selected kangaroo leather. No pains or 
expense have been spared in making this 
shoe not only the very highest in quality, 
but perfect in every other detail. The 
plates are of the finest hand-forged razor 
steel and are firmly riveted to heel and 
sole Per pair, $7.00 

Spalding Sprinting Shoe 

No. 30-S. Made of selected kangaroo leather 
and built on our famous running shoe last. 
This shoe is strongly made, and, while ex- 
tremely light in weight, will be found sub- 
stantial in construction. Hand sewed and 
a strictly bench made shoe. Per pair, $7.00 

Spalding "Featherweight" Shoe 

T)ie Lightest Base Ball Shoe Ever Made. 

Size ol Shoe— 5 6 7 8 9 

Weight (Ozs.) 17 17^/^ 18 19 20 

No. FW. Owing to the lightness and fineness 

of its construction, it is suitable for the 

exacting demands of the fastest players. 

and is not intended for general use or for 

the ordinary player. Hand sewed and a 

strictly bench made shoe. Per pair, $7.00 

Spalding Club Special 

No. 0. Carefully selected satin calfskin, ma- 
chine sewed; substantially constructed, 
first-class shoe in every particular. Steel 
plates riveted to heel and sole. Pair, $5.00 

Spalding Amateur Special 

No. 35. Made of good quality calfskin, ma- 
chine sewed; a serviceable and durable 
shoe; specially recommended. Plates riv- 
eted to heel and sole. . Per pair. $3.50 

Spalding Junior 

No 37. A leather shoe, made on regular 
base ball shoe last. Plates riveted to heel 
and sole. An excellent shoe for the money 
but not piuaranteed. . Per pair. $2.50 



Montreal 
Canada 



Communications addressed to 

A. G. SPALDING & BROS. -^ . 

inany of the following cities will receive attention [ fcngiana 

*■**•*"•' _ - _ _• 1 _ r -, 4- ^^'nAv* /^r this nnnk_ 



For street numbers see inside front cover of this book 



New York I Boston 
Buffalo Pittsbarg 
Syracuse 1 Baltimore 



PhUadelphia 
Washington 
New Orleans 



Chicago 

Cleveland 

Detroit 



Cincinnati 

Kansas City 

St. Louis 



San Francisco 

Denver 
Minneapolis 



Prices in effect January 6. 1908. Subject to change without notice. 



THE SPALDING 

GUARANTEES ' 
w^ QUALITY 



fe^TRADE-MARK 

Uf^M ACCEPT NO 
^^::^ SUBSTITUTE CN 




The Spalding Uniform No. 0- Highest Grade Made 

Workmanship and material very highest quality thiough- 
out. Consisting of Shirt, Pants, Cap, Belt and Stockings. 
The Spalding Uniform No. 0. Complete. $15.00 tiJlO Eft 
Net price clubs ordering for ewf ire <eaw. Suit, vlA»«V 

The University Uniform No. 1 
Equal to No. Uniform, but slightly lighter. Consist- 
ing of Shirt. Pants, Cap, Belt and Stockings. 
University Uniform No. 1. Complete, $12.50 ^lA AA 
Net price clubs ordering for entire team. Suit, vlV.VV 

The Interschol^stic Uniform No. 2 
One of our most popular suits, and will give the best of 
satisfaction. Can usually be worn two seasons. Consist- 
ing of Shirt, Pants, Cap, Belt and Stockings. 
Interscholastic Uniform No. 2. Complete, $10.00 <jlO A A 
Net price clubs ordering for entire team. Suit, «PO« vv 

The Minor League Uniform No. M 
Well made of very durable material. Consisting of Shirt, 
Pants, Cap, Belt and Stockings. 

Minor League Uniform No. PI. Complete. $9.00 ^'7 CA 
Net price clubs ordering for entire team. Suit, ^ * •*'^ 

The Club Special Uniform No. 3 
Well finished: a most excellent outfit for amateur clubs. 
Consisting of Shirt, Pants, Cap, Belt and Stockings. 
Club Special Uniform No. 3. Complete, $6.00 ti»e A A 
Net price clubs ordering for entire team. Suit, '«P<'»Vv 

The Amateur Special Uniform No. 4 
Very popular with the younger base bal: players. Con- 
sisting of Shirt. Pants, Cap, Belt and Stockings. 
AmateurSpecial Uniform No. 4. Complete, $5.00 (tH AA 
Net price clubs ordering for entire team,. Suit, v^»" v 

The Spalding Junior Uniform No. 5 
Made expressly for clubs composed of boys and youths. 
Consisting of Shirt, Pants, Cap, Belt and Stockings. 
Spalding Junior Uniform No. 5. Complete, $4.00 (t A A 
Net price clubs ordering for e-M /ire <eam. Suit, ^w»vV 
No extra cliarKe for lettering any ofaliove sliirts with club name nor for 
detachable sleeves. Extra charge for all lettering' on caps. 

The Spalding Youths' Uniform No. 6 

The Spalding Youths' Uniform No. 6. Very well made 
of good quality Gray material. Consisting of ti!| AA 
Shirt, Pants. Cap, Belt and Stockings. Complete, <?■• W 

Nolargersizesthan 30-in. waist and 3-)-in. chest furnisheil in No.6 uniform. 
One felt letter only on shirt. Extra charge for all lettering on caps. 

Send for Spalding's handsome measurement blank and 
complete assortment of samples and prices. 







nommunications addressed to 


ZS 




Montreal 
Canada 


A. G. SPALDING & BROS. 

in any of the following cities will receive attention 


London 
England 




For street numbers see inside front cover of this book. 




New York Boston 
Buffalo Pittsburg 
Syracuse Baltimore 


PhUadelphia 
Washington 
New Orleans 


Chicago 

Cleveland 

Detroit 


Cincuinati 

Kansas City 

St. Louis 


San Francisco 1 

Denver 1 

HinneapollsJ 



Prices in effect January 6, 1908. Subject to change without notice. 



THE SPALDING^ 

GUARANTEES M 

y^ QUA LITY ^ 



O-RADE-MARK 

ACCEPT NO 
' SUBSTITUTE ^>^ 








$7.50 

Each, $8.25 
•• $7.50 





SPALDING BASE BALL COATS 

No. 0. Double Breasted Coat. Each, $10.50 

To clubs purchasing 9 or more at one time. $9.50 

No 1 Double Breasted Coat. Each, $10.00 

To clubs purchasing 9 or more at one time. " $9.00 
No 2 Double Breasted Coat. Each, $8.50 

To clubs purchasing 9 or more at onetime. 
No. M. Double Breasted Coat. 

To clubs purchasing 9 or more at one time. 

UMPIRE BLOUSES 

No Quality Flannel $6.00 No. 2 Quality Flannel $4.00 

No 1 Quality Flannel 5.00 No. 3 Quality Flannel 3.50 

SPALDING VEST SWEATER 
No VG. Best quality worsted, heavy weight, pearl but- 
tons Gray or white only. Special trimmed edging and 
cuffs in stock colors supplied at no extra charge. $6.00 

BOYS' JACKET SWEATER 
No. BRC. Boys' Jacket Sweater. All wool, pearl buttons; 
in e-rav only. Well made and attractive. Each, $2.50 

SPALDING RIBBED COAT SWEATER 
No CDW. Good quality worsted, ribbed knit, gray 
only. Special trimmed edging and cuffs in stock colors 

supplied at no extra charge. «.^^rfr«l 

SPALDING T SHIRT FOR PITCHERS 
No T. Merino, fleece lined, roll collar, long sleeves. $3.50 
SPALDING BASE BALLSHIRTS, SEPARATE 
With name of club. No charge for detachable sleeves 





The Spalding," any style. Each. $6.00 

University," any style, S^'^J}' 2nX 

Interscholastic," any style. Each, 4.00 

'Club Special," any style. ^^^h l'^ 

Amateur Special," any style. Each, £.W 

'Junior," any style. Each, 1.50 

SPALDING BASE BALL PANTS, SEPARATE 
No 0. "The Spalding," any style. Pair. $b.«« 

"University." any style. Pair, 

"Interscholastic," any style. Pair, 

"Club Special," any style. Pair, 

"Amateur Special," padded. Pair. 

"Junior," padded. Pair, 

SPALDING BASE BALL STOCKINGS 
A great variety of colors and styles. 25c. to $1.75 pair. 

SPALDING BASE BALL BELTS 
Leather, worsted and cotton web. all styles. 10c. to $2.00 

SPALDING BASE BALL CAPS 
In six qualities and all styles. 25c. to $1.25 each. 



No.O. 
No. 1. 
No. 2. 

No. 3. 

No. 4. 
No. 5, 



No. 1 
No. 2 
No. 3 
No. 4. 
No, 5. 



5.00 
3.75 
2.50 
2.00 
1.50 



Montreal 
Canada 



Communications addressed to 

A. G. SPALDING & BROS, 

in any of the following cities will receive attention 
For street numbers see inside front cover of this book. 



London 
England 



New York I Boston 1 Philadelphia 
Bufialo Pittsburg Washington 
Syracuse I Baltimorel New Orleans 



Chicago 

Cleveland 

Detroit 



Cincinnati 

Kansas City 

St. Louis 



San Francisco 

Denver 
Minneapolis 



Prices in effect January 6, 1908. Subject to change without notice. 



THE SPALDING^^TRADE-MARK 

GUARANTEES PMbl ACCEPT NO 

^-k QUALITY %^:::: ^ substitute ^ ^ 



SPALDING'S BASE BALL SUNDRIES 

Bandages— Knee, arm.etc.silk and cotton, 75c, to $5.50 

Bases. No. O— Canvas, filled, quilted. . Set 3, 6.00 

No. 1— Canvas, filled, not quilted. . " 5.00 

No. 2— Canvas, filled, ordinary quality. *| 3.50 

No. 4— Canvas, unfilled, laced. . . " 1.00 

Bat Bags. No. 2- Heavy canvas, for 12 bats. Each, 3.50 

No. 3— Same as No. 2, to hold 6 bats. . " 2.00 

No. 01— Sole leather, for 2 bats. . \\ 4.00 

No. 02— Canvas, leather cap at ends. [\ 1-50 

No. 03— Canvas, leather cap 1 end. . " 1.00 

No. 7— Club, sole leather, for 36 bats. " 30.00 

Batting Cage, Movable — Simple and strong. " 50.00 

Emblems— Small size, 25c.; medium, 35c.; large, .50 

Foul Flags— Bunting, 16 x 24in., 7ft. staff. Each, 1.50 

Glove Softener — Used in place of oil or grease. Box, .10 

Hackey Ankle Supporter, cures sprains, 25c., 50c., 1.00 

Heel Plates. No. 4-0— Razor steel, sharpened. Pair, .50 

No. 2-0 — Hardened steel, sharpened. " .25 

No. IH— Good steel, sharpened. . . " .10 

Home Plates. No. 1— White rubber. . Each^ 10.00 

No. C — Composition, very durable. . ' 5.00 

Indicators, Umpire. No. O— Celluloid, . " .50 

Pitchers' Box Plate. N», 3— White rubber, " 7,50 

Pitchers' Toe Plate. No. A — Aluminum. " .25 

No. B— Brass " .25 

Score Books. No. 1 — Pocket size,paper,7 games. " .10 

No. 2— Board, 22 games. ... *' .25 

No. 3— Board, 46 games. ... \\ .50 

v» No. 4 — Club size, board, 30 games. . " 1.00 

■ No. 5— Cloth, 60 games. ... " 1.50 

No. 7— Cloth, 160 games. ... *' 3.00 ' 

Score cards, . . . Each, 5c,, Doz., .25 

Scoring Tablet. No. 1— Celluloid. . . Each. .25 

Toe Plates. No. 3-0— Razor steel, sharpened. *] .50 

No. O— Hardened steel, sharpened. . *| .25 

No. 1— Good steel, sharpened. . . " .10 

Pitchers', No. A— Aluminum . . " .25 

Pitchers', No, B— Brass, . , . " .25 

Uniform Bags, No. 2— Fine bag leather. . " 6.00 

No. 1— Best heavy canvas, leather bound. |' 3.00 

No, 6— Canvas roll, leather straps, handle. " 1.50 

No. 5— Uniform and bat bag, best canvas. "^ 4.00 

No. 4— Uniform bag, brown canvas. " 2.50 

For complete descriptions, prices and illustrations of 

all the latest accessories for Base Ball, send for 

Spalding's Base Ball Catalogue. Mailed Free. 










nnTnTnnnifiations addressed to 


= 




Montreal 
Canada 


A. G. SPALDING & BROS. 

in any of the following cities will receive attention 


London 
England 




For street numbers see inside front cover of this book. 




New York 
Bnffalo 
Syracuse 


Boston 
Pittsburg 
Baltimore 


PliUadelphia 
Washington 
New Orleans 


Ctiicago Cincinnati 

Cleveland Kansas City 

Detroit St. Louis 


San Francisco! 

Denver 1 

MinneapoUs | 



Prices in effect Jamuiry 6, 1908. Subject to change without notice. 



THE SPALDING^H^TRADE-MARK 

GUARANTEES tOJ*»| ACCEPT NO 

f> QUALITY ^^;:::^ substitute ^^ 




London, Eng., Dec. 5, 1907, 



Messrs. A. G. Spalding & Bros. 
London, Eng. 

Gentlemen : 



The Boxing 
Gloves, Boots, 

Sweaters and Punching Bags that I have 
used in Training for my match with 
Gunner Moir, for the Heavyweight 
Championship of the World, and which I 
have secured from your firm, are the best 
I have ever used, and I most cheerfully 
recommend them to anyone following 
my profession. 

From the opinion I have formed of 
these goods I shall use them in my train- 
ing, and in signing articles of agreement 
to box Jack Palmer and Jem Roche, or 
any future contests in which I may take 
part, will insist that A. G. Spalding & 
Bros.' Gloves be used, this statement to 
be included in and to be one of the articles 
of said agreements. Yours very truly. 











SS 




Montreal 
Canada 


A. G. SPALDING & BROS. 

in any of the following cities will receive attention 


England 




For street numbers see inside front cover of this book. 




New York Boston 
Boffalo Pittsburg 
Syracuse Baltimore 


PhUadelphia 
Washington 
New Orleans 


Chicago 

Cleveland 

Detroit 


Cincinnati 

Kansas City 

St. Louis 


San Francisco 1 

Denver 1 

Minneapolis | 



Prices in effect Jamuiry 6, 1908, Subject to change without notice. 



HI1A.H3S >90S 



THE fallowing index from Spalding's latest catalogues will give 
an i&ea of the great variety of athletic goods manufactured 
and sold by A. G. Spalding & Bros. °(s^ Spalding's illustrated 
catalogue furnished free upon application to any of Spalding's 
stores— for location of which see inside front cover of this book. 



PAGE 

Abdomen Protector 28 

Archery Goods . . 64 

Athletic Libraries . 63 

Bags, Bat .... 17 

Bags, Bathing Suit 53 

Bags, Caddy ... 46 

BagSp Uniform . . 17 

Balls, Base ... 4 

Balls, Basket . . 58 

Balls, Indoor Base . 7 

Balls. Golf ... 47 

Ball, Playground . 7 
Ball, Parachute Golf 49 

Balls. Tennis . . . 33 

Ball Cleaners . . 49 

Bandages, Elastic . 27 

Bases, Base Ball . 17 

Bases, Indoor . . 7 

Basket Ball Wear . 59 

Bats, Base Ball . . 8 

Bats, Indoor ... 7 
Bat Bags, Base Ball 17 

Batting Cage . . 20 

Bathing Suits . . 53 

Belts 26 

Bladders .... 58 

Blouses.Umpire . 23 

Caddy Badges . . 48 

Caddy Bags ... 46 

Caps, Base Ball . . 24 

Caps, University . 42 

Center Forks, Iron. 38 

Center Straps . . 38 

Circle, 7-f t. ... 55 

Clock Golf. ... 49 

Coats, Base Ball . 23 

Collars, Swimming 53 

Corks, Running . . 56 

Covers, Racket . . 36 

Cricket Goods . . 41 

Croquet Goods . . 64 

Discus, Olympic . 54 

Discs, Rubber Golf 48 
Discs, Marking Golf 48 

Elastic Bandages . 27 

Emblems . . „ . 24 

Equestrian Polo . 64 

Field Hockey . . 64 

Flags. College . . 43 
Flags, Marking Golf 48 

Foul Flags ... 17 

Gloves, Base Ball . 15 

Gloves, Golf ... 48 

Glove Softener . . 20 

Goals, Basket Ball . 58 

Golf Clubs ... 44 

Golf Counters . . 49 

Crolfette .... 49 



PAGE 

Golf Goods ... 44 
Grips, Athletic . . 56 
Grips. Golf ... 48 
Guy Ropes and Pegs 38 
Hammers. Athletic 54 
Handle Covers . . 36 
Hats. University . 42 
Hob Nails .... 48 
Hole Cutters. Golf . 48 
Hole Rim, Golf . . 48 
Horns. Umpires' . 55 
How to order Unif 'ms23 
Hurdles. Safety . 54 
Indoor Base Ball . 7 
Jackets. Swimming 53 

Jerseys 52 

Knee Tights ... 57 
Knickerbockers . 57 
Lanes for Sprints . 54 
Lawn Bowls ... 64 
Masks. Base Ball . 18 
Markers, Tennis . 39 
Megaphones ... 43 
Mitts, Base Ball . 10 
Nets. Tennis ... 34 
Numbers, Comp. . FtQ 
Paint. Golf ... 49 
Pants. Base Ball . 23 
Pants. Basket Ball 59 
Pants. Boys' Knee. 57 
Pants. Running . 56 
Pistol, Starter's . 55 
Plates. Shoe ... 17 
Plates, Home . . 17 
Plates, Marking . 39 
Plates. Pitchers' Toe 17 
Plates, Pitchers' Box 17 
Plates, Teeing . . 48 
Poles, Vaulting . . 54 
Presses, Racket . 36 
Protectors. Base Ball 20 
Protector, Thumb . 58 
Pulleys and Axle . 38 
Pushers, Chamois . 56 
Puttees. Golf . . 50 
Racket Covers . . 36 
Rackets, Tennis . 32 
Racket Presses . . 36 
Rackets. Restrung. 36 
Rackets. Squash . 41 
Reels. Tennis Post 38 
Rink Skates ... 61 
Score Board, Golf . 49 
ScoreBooks, BaseBall 20 
ScoreBooks, Bask Ball58 
Score Books, Golf . 49 
Score Books, Tennis 36 
Scoring Tablets, B.B. 20 



PAGE 

Shirts, Base Ball . 23 

Shirts, Basket Ball 59 

Shirts, Sleeveless . 57 

Shoes, Base Ball . 25 

Shoes, Basket Ball 60 

Shoes, Bowling . . 40 
Shoes, Cross Country 56 

Shoes, Cricket . . 40 

Shoes. Golf ... SO 

Shoes, Gymnasium 60 
Shoes, Indoor Jump. 56 

Shoes, Jumping . 56 

Shoes, Indoor Run. 56 

Shoes, Running . . 56 

Shoes, Squash . . 40 

Shoes, Tennis . . 40 
Shoe Plates, BaseBall 17 

Shot 54 

Skates, Roller . . 61 

Sleeve Bands . . 43 

Slippers, Bathing . 53 

Soccer Foot Ball . 64 

Squash ..... 41 

Steel Cable ... 35 

Stockings .... 27 

Stop Board ... 55 

Stop Watch ... 55 

Studs, Golf ... 48 

Supporters ... 28 

Supporters, Ankle 28 

Supporters, Wrist. 28 

Suspensories ... 28 

Sweaters .... 23 

Swimming Suits . 53 

Take-Off Board . . 55 

Tape, Rubber . . 36 

Tapes, Marking . . 39 

Tapes, Measuring . 39 

Tennis Rackets . . 29 

Tennis Nets ... 34 

Tennis Posts ... 37 

Tether Tennis . . 39 

Tights, Full Length 57 

Toe Board .... 55 

Trousers, Y.M.C. A. 57 

Trunks, Bathing . 53 

Trunks, Velvet . . 57 

Trunks, Worsted . 57 

Umpire Indicator . 20 

Uniform Bags . . 17 

Uniforms, Base Ball 21 

Varnish for Gut . 36 

Vaulting Standards 54 

Watches. Stop . . 55 

Water Wings . . 53 

Weights, 56-lb. . . 54 

Whistles, Referees' 55 

Wrist Supporters , 2§ 



?Hi^ 



A^t^ 




ALBERT G. and J. WALTER SPALDING 
commenced business March 1st, 1876, at 
Chicago, under the firm name of A. G. 
Spaldmg & Bro., with a small capital. 
Two years later their brother-in-law, Wil- 
liam T. Brown, came into the business, and 
the firm name was then changed to A. G. 
Spalding & Bros. 

The business was founded on the Ath- 
letic reputation of Mr. A. G. Spalding, who 
acquired a national prominence in the realm 
of Sport, as Captain and Pitcher of the 
Forest City's of Kockford, 111. (1865-70), the 
original Boston Base Ball Club (Champions 
of the United States, 1871-75), and the 
Chicago Ball Club (1876-77), first Champi- 
ons of the National League. He was also 
one of the original organizers, and for many 
years a director, of the National League of 
America, the premier Base Ball organiza- 
tion of the world. Mr. Spalding has taken 
■ an important part in Base Ball affairs ever 
since it became the National Game of the 
United States at the close of the Civil War 
in 1865. The returning veterans of that 
War, who had played the game as a camp 
diversion, disseminated this new American 
field sport throughout the country, and 
thus gave it its national character, 

Base Ball Goods were the only articles 
of merchandise carried the first year. Gradu- 
ally implements and accessories of Athletic 
Sports were added, until the firm now man- 
ufacture the requisites for all kinds of Ath- 
letic Sports. Originally the firm contracted 
for their supplies from outside manufactur- 
ers, but findmg it impossible, by this meth- 
od, to keep the standard of quality up to 
their high ideals, they gradually commenced 
the manufacture of their own goods, and 
by the acquisition from time to time of 
various established factories located in dif- 
ferent parts of the country, are now able 



to, and do manufacture in their 
own factories everything bearing/<'/>j;,:_^AY( 
the Spalding Trade-Mark, whichrQwjy' 
stands the world over as a guar- x^ili^^^f'''''^ 
antee of the highest quality. ^>^ 

There are over three thousand persona 
employed in various capacities in A. G. 
Spalding & Bros.' factories and stores loca- 
ted in all th6 leading cities of the United 
States, Canada and England. A capital of 
over $4,000,000 is employed in carrying on 
this business, and the annual sales exceed 
the total combined annual sales of all other 
manufacturers in the world making a simi- 
lar line of goods. 

A. G. Spalding & Bros, have always 
taken a leading part in the introduction, 
encouragement and support of all new 
Sports and Games, and the prominence at- 
tained by Athletic Sports in the United 
States is in a very great measure due to the 
energy, enterprise and liberality of this 
progressive concern. They were the pio- 
neers, and in fact the founders, of the 
Athletic Goods Trade in America, and are 
now universally recognized as the undis- 
puted Leaders in the Athletic Goods line 

^ throughout the world. 

• *■ The late Marshall Field of Chicago, 
America's greatest Merchant, speaking of 
the business of A. G. Spalding & Bros., said: 
" I am familiar with its early career, growth 
and development, and when I compare its 
unpromising outlook and the special field 
for its operations that existed at its incep- 
tion in 1876, with its present magnitude, I 
consider it one of the most remarkable 
mercantile successes of the world." 

The millions of Athletes using them, 
and the thousands of dealers selling them, 
attest to the High Quality of Spalding's 
Athletic Goods, and they must determine 
the future history of this concern. 




^ 






^i^l^ ^^^^ J^C^^t^ -J-TU^ '»>*^ » »>**^<gW ^ >< ^ 



^iCZ 9?vr^J^ 



ATHLETIC L 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 

illili nil! illii lilii iiil! iSIII iilil !ii!l i!!il .'S!!! !!!!' "•"■•< ^ 
d llilllliillliljllll illllll llll m 




005 900 871 7 # 



A separate book covers e 

and is Official and Standard 
Price 10 cents each 



GRAND PRIZE 



ST. LOUIS, 1904 




GRAND PRIX 




PARIS, 1900 



Spalding 
athletic goods 

ARE THE STANDARD OF THE WORLD 



A. G. Spalding ® Bros . 

MAINTAIN WHOLESALE and RETAIL STORES />i the FOLLOWING CITIES 



NEW YORK CMIC 

PHILADELPHIA ST. 

BOSTON C 

BALTIMORE 

WASHINGTON -] 
PITTSBURG 
BUFFALO 
SYRACUSE 

NEW ORLEANS 
MONTREAL. CAN 



CHICAGO 
ST. LOUIS 
CINCINNATI 



CLEVELAND 
DETROIT 
' KANSAS CITY 

MINNEAPOLIS 
DENVER 
:ANS SAN FRANCISCO 

LONDON, ENG. 



TradeMarktd Athletic Goods 



^ 6t Bros, and where all of Spalding's 
made arelocated in the followinsf cities 



NEW' YORK CHICAGO SAN FRANCISCO CHICOPEB.MASS. 
IbROOKLYN BOSTON PHILADELPHIA LONDON, ENG. 



